


Memories in the Dust

by bookscape



Category: Zorro (TV 1957)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-05
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 16:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 108,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19479919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookscape/pseuds/bookscape
Summary: When Diego is taken by aliens to be the means of replenishing the deteriorating race of aliens, his memories are stripped. His alien caretaker falls in love with him and when his memories begin to return, she decides he needs to go back home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> When Diego is taken by aliens to be the means of replenishing the deteriorating race of aliens, his memories are stripped. His alien caretaker falls in love with him and when his memories begin to return, she decides he needs to go back home.

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**Contents:**  
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[**1**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories1.htm)

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[**2**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories2.htm)

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[**3**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories3.htm)

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[**4**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories4.htm)

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[**5**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories5.htm)

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[**6**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories6.htm)

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[**7**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories7.htm)

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[**8**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories8.htm)

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[**9**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories9.htm)

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[**10**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories10.htm)

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[**11**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories11.htm)

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[**12**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories12.htm)

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[**13**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories13.htm)

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[**14**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories14.htm)

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[**15**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories15.htm)

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[**16**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories16.htm)

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[**17**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories17.htm)

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[**18**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories18.htm)

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[**19**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories19.htm)

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[**20**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories20.htm)  
  
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[**21**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories21.htm)

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[**22**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories22.htm)

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[**23**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories23.htm)

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[**24**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories24.htm)

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[**25**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories25.htm)

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[**26**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories26.htm)

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[**27**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories27.htm)

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[**28**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories28.htm)

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[**29**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories29.htm)

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[**30**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories30.htm)

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[**31**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories31.htm)

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[**32**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories32.htm)

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[**33**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories33.htm)

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[**34**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories34.htm)

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[**epi**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesepi.htm)

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_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
---  
  
**Author’s notes:**

**This story is a great departure for me.I have always been proud of the designation “Mistress of WD Zorro Fanfiction.”I still am, but sometimes a scenario comes along that hits you between the eyes, demands to be told and does not leave you alone until it is written.I have written over 50 chapters on this, divided it into two ‘books’ and still the characters demand more of my time.They will probably get it….While this is a Zorro story, it is also a romance, as well as a science fiction story.And while this is not entirely a Zorro story in the normal sense, within the confines of the WD universe, I still have tried to keep it there as much as possible.**

**It also tells of a people called the Rantiri, where the needs of the individual are subservient to that of the society, indeed, of the entire race.As this story unfolded, I remembered something from my past.A friend of mine went to an Asian country not too many years ago as an exchange teacher. She assumed that given the great inventiveness and productivity of the people, she would see modern conveniences in every home. Such was not the case. The homes had only what they needed, were generally quite small and sparsely furnished and modern conveniences were almost non-existent... Why? The good of the whole. Everything is produced to be sent overseas and sold, the profits further bettering the society, the country.**

**Memories tells of a ‘created’ people trying desperately to fulfill the dying wish of their 'Ancestors.' Unwillingly, Diego gets caught up in the attempted fulfillment of this wish. **

**I hope that my science is grounded in a bit of fact, but my apologies to Watson and Crick if it has no semblance of possibility.That is the beauty of science fiction; we do have some leeway.**

****

**Disclaimer: **

**Diego/Zorro, Alejandro, Bernardo, Tornado and all the rest of the wonderful WD Zorro universe do not belong to me, are borrowed and will eventually be returned to the universe from which they came.**

**Minta, Jerintas, Gerol, and the other Rantiri and their friends are my own creations, as are El Diablo and his ilk. You are welcome to use them, but please ask me first.**

****

**Thanks: **

**Thanks go to Keliana and Matt Baker who were my first beta readers.Also thanks to Kel and Gail Manfre for helping me with the research for this story, and to Gail Manfre and Jill Panvini on information about the Catholic Church.I am also indebted to Jill for inviting me to attend High Mass with her and her brother, Michael, one Sunday while I was visiting her.I want to thank Father Ben R. Innes and everyone else at the Mission San Luis Rey for their kindness as we toured that beautiful edifice.**

**And foremost, deep and sincere thanks go to my patient husband and indulgent daughter for putting up with me during the time of this writing…it ain’t over yet.**

****

**Time Frame :**

**I have compressed the stories that were shown in the series, perhaps unrealistically, but in order to keep it to about the right time in history, it was necessary.California acknowledged Mexico’s rulership over the colony in March of 1822.When this story begins in September of 1821, Zorro has been riding for about 20 months.**

****

****

**Sue Kite, December, 2001**  
  
---  
  
**"Then You Look At Me"**  
  
---  
  
**Lyrics: Will Jennings**  
  
---  
**Laugh and cry, live and die**  
**Life is a dream we are dreaming**  
**Day by day, I find my way**  
**Look for the soul and the meaning**  
  
**Then you look at me**  
**And I always see**  
**What I have been searching for**  
**I'm lost as I can be**  
**Then you look at me**  
**And I am not lost anymore**  
  
**People run, sun to sun**  
**Caught in their lives everflowing**  
**Once begun, life goes till it's gone**  
**We have to go where it's going**  
  
**Then you look at me**  
**And I always see**  
**What I have been searching for**  
**I'm lost as I can be**  
**Then you look at me**  
**And I am not lost anymore**  
  
**And you say you see**  
**When you look at me**  
**The reason you love life so**  
**Though lost I have been**  
**I find love again**  
**And life just keeps on running**  
**And life just keeps on running**  
**You look at me and life comes from you.**  
  
**From Bicentennial Man, sung by Celine Dion**  
  
**This song, along with the entire soundtrack, has haunted me from the moment the idea for this story came into my head. The metamorphosis of the android seemed somehow to parallel that of Diego in Memories in the Dust.**  
  
---  
  
**Prelude**

**Zorro glanced up at the stars that glittered against the velvet blackness like sparks from a dying campfire. Tornado continued galloping rhythmically along the narrow road, his pace never faltering. The sky seemed particularly bright tonight, the moon a thin crescent hanging low in the west, and the air felt chilly against his sweaty body.Señora Carleta Martín shivered against him.Handing her the reins, he quickly untied and drew off his cape, putting it around her shoulders.He took the reins back from her as she gathered the silken cloth around her.“Gracias, Señor,” she murmured, exhaustion evident in her voice.**

**“If I am correct, Señora, we are near the mission.There you will be safe,” he assured her.**

**“From El Diablo?” she asked, her voice trembling.“He would go into the sanctuary itself for what he wants.”**

**“And now he wants me, too, eh?” Zorro asked, with a chuckle.**

**“Do not laugh, Señor Zorro.It is true.It is more than ransom now,” she answered.Her words carried back to him easily in the chill breeze of Tornado’s passage.**

**“But this is the Mission San Gabriel.It is a large, well-populated mission.You will be safe with Father Felipe.He and his novitiates and the mission Indians will protect you until your husband and the soldiers of the cuartel can come and get you.And I, too, have dealt with El Diablo’s kind before.”**

**She said nothing, only huddled more compactly against his chest, the cloak’s folds drawn tightly in her fists.The Peruvian emmisary’s young wife had been the epitome of calm and bravery; but Zorro had seen signs that the terrors of the night were finally breaking through her resolve.She trembled violently against him and it was from more than cold.**

**Zorro remembered the past few hours and laughed.He knew Diablo and his men would be watching for him.One did not kidnap the emissary’s wife, demand ransom money and not expect someone to come searching; yet he and Tornado had managed to sneak close to the outlaw’s camp.They had watched, waited and then struck.Two of Diablo’s men would be pounding on the heavenly gates this night; another begging alms in front of the church if the hoof-mangled hands were any indication.Zorro had taken care of the Eagle’s men and the Rabatos in the past; seven desperados could be easily handled, even as heavily armed as these were.**

**Tornado swept over the hill and Zorro could see several flickering candles in the windowsills of monks who were still meditating and studying.Otherwise the mission was quiet and peaceful.Without fanfare, the black clad outlaw rode to the back gates, leaped off Tornado and opened the heavy wooden doors, wincing as the wound across his ribs opened at his movements.One of Diablo’s men had gotten lucky and his sword had not only managed to slice through Zorro’s shirt, but some of his skin as well.Without realizing it, the pressure of Senora Martín’s body against his had kept the wound closed and the bleeding to a minimum.Movement brought the sting of pain and a renewed seepage of blood.**

**Father Felipe peered out of an open window, having heard Tornado’s entrance into the courtyard.Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he exclaimed softly, “Señor Zorro!”**

**“Padre, I have just rescued Señora Martín from the bandit El Diablo.As you know, he is ruthless and determined to get what he wants.You must quickly send one or two men to the pueblo to get His Excellency, Pasquel Martín and Sergeant Garcia and his men.There are not too many left in the outlaw’s gang, only about seven or eight men, but they are heavily armed.I must leave immediately.El Diablo will most like**

**ly send a few of his men after me.That will make it easier for your Indians to protect the señora.”**

**Nodding, the priest turned, knocked on a nearby door, and gave directions to the man who opened it.Soon the younger monk was padding to the main quarters of the novitiates, his robes held high to prevent tripping on them in the dark.**

**“Señor Zorro, I know that you were hurt.Please stay.Padre Felipe’s men can guard you as well,” Carleta said, her eyes showing concern for his safety as well.**

**“That is wise counsel, my friend,” Father Felipe concurred.**

**“Perhaps so, but I wish the lady to have every advantage.And besides, when Sgt. Garcia gets here, he will be obligated to arrest me, and that is something I think I would find rather distasteful at the moment.I would prefer to take my chances with the bandits,” Zorro said with a laugh.Soon the sound of the hoof beats of the messenger’s horse echoed in the dark courtyard.As they faded down the road toward the pueblo, the black clad man swung up on Tornado and saluted his watchers.“Adios,” he called, laying his heels against the ebony hide.With a snort, the stallion sprang into a gallop, sweeping out of the gate that immediately closed behind him.**

**Hoof beats echoed all through the valley and Zorro knew that El Diablo’s men had been closer than he had previously thought.He sincerely hoped that the messenger was able to get clear before the arrival of the kidnappers.**

**A shot flashed from his left and he felt a bullet whiz past his head.He hunched down against the neck of his loyal friend and whispered encouragement.Tornado answered with a renewed burst of speed.Curses from behind him both reassured him and gave him notice.El Diablo was, indeed sending a few of his men after him.**

**The rhythmic pounding of Tornado’s hooves was echoed by those of his pursuers.As he drew them ever farther from the mission, Zorro noted that although he was outdistancing them, the bandits were still staying close enough to keep him in view.**

**As he sped over the crest of a hill, a loud boom, louder even than that of a cannon blast startled Tornado, making the stallion jump.An equally startled Zorro almost came out of the saddle.A sharp whistling noise followed, almost painful as its volume increased.Outlined against the twinkling stars something huge appeared, as big across and as tall as the front of the mission, dark and sinister, its bulk drawing closer.It was larger near the bottom, tapering to a rounded curve on top.Suddenly lights appeared all around the monstrous thing, bright and blinding.This was too much for Tornado, who screamed and reared to his full height.Hanging onto both the reins and by the horse’s mane, Zorro still almost lost his purchase on the saddle as the horse plunged back down to the ground and pivoted to run in the same motion.**

**The masked man trusted his horse’s instincts and allowed Tornado to flee, even though they were rushing directly into the path of the pursuing outlaws.El Diablo’s men were having problems of their own.One was already on the ground, moaning, another hanging desperately to his bucking mount, while the third was already speeding headlong back toward the mission.Another piercing, high-pitched whistle brought an agonized scream from Tornado and he reared and bucked as the sound continued.The noise penetrated Zorro’s bones, making them ache.He could only imagine what the poor stallion, with his keen ears, was feeling.Tornado stumbled and fell, and Zorro leaped off, to avoid getting pinned underneath.With another scream, the horse jumped up and, bucking, ran away from the monstrous object, which had settled to the ground with a wheezing sound.Zorro had never seen anything so large, so very menacing, something that seemed to defy even the laws of nature.**

**Desperately, the outlaw looked around, gauging his chances of getting to safety on foot. There was only the mission and it was at least a quarter of a mile away.Seeing no other avenue of escape, he began to run toward it.Then, with a suddenness that shocked him, something reached out and grabbed him.He had seen nothing!He had heard nothing, but hands were pulling at him, jerking him to the ground.Restraints were clamped around his hands and feet, but still he struggled.Several men picked him up and carried him to the huge object.A gigantic door opened, looking for all the world like the very gates of Hell.An intensely bright reddish glow came from the interior of the object.Zorro struggled, throwing his body from side to side, ignoring the tearing pain of the wound across his ribs, conscious only of the intense and driving desire to get away from these fiends, whoever they were.**

**Despite his efforts, he was carried inside the fearful thing.The huge door closed behind him with a booming sound that seemed to echo in his ears…. Doom, doom, doom!Behind the mask, eyes that were normally confident and self-assured were now afraid and desperate.Tall, thin, dark men continued to carry him into the bowels of Hell.**

**========================**

**Jerintas watched through the window of the little room.The violet eyes that reflected back at him from the glass were troubled.The long, dark fingers idly drummed the windowsill.The man in the bed struggled against the restraints, stopping his efforts only long enough to gather energy to struggle some more. Jerintas sighed as he heard his assistant approach from behind him.**

**“It is as you surmised, Director.Not only do the people on this planet have the genetic materials that we need to finish the Ancestors’ Deep Directive, but this one is the perfect unit to bring about the resurgence of the natural order the Ancestors desired.”**

**“But he is not a unit, Gerol.He is an individual that has been conditioned through years of social and cultural upbringing to be the way he is.He will never adapt to our culture, our people, or do what we want him to do.In just two days, he has escaped three times, and the last time he was found near the airlock.To make matters worse, you might have alerted the Merchant’s Alliance of our activities with your shuttle’s very obvious appearance in front of so many witnesses.”**

**“But this is a primitive people.They are superstitious and backward. This will be quickly forgotten,” Gerol argued.**

**“No, Gerol.An incident like this might one day be considered a myth, but even old myths can inspire the curious to wonder and investigate.No, we have an individual that is perfect for our race’s eventual freedom and independence, and yet we cannot use him.We have a plan that might be discovered by our exploiters, but no way to keep them from learning about it,” Jerintas said morosely.**

**“If he were like a unit, a newly created one, there would be none of those previously learned traits and tendencies.He would be devoid of his memories, his identity; there would be absolutely nothing cognitive that would make him rebel against us. He would have to be taught everything, and would be compliant, easily adapting to what we want from him.”**

**“Yes,” Jerintas murmured. _A unit…When they were dying, the Ancestors left memories that have been selectively transferred to newly created units over the years.Could the same thing be done for this one?Could this one’s memories be taken from him?Could they be planted in another unit?_**

****

**“Gerol, run some tests.See if the transference machine used in putting ancestral memories into newly educated units can be altered to take memories from a living individual.”**

**“You have a plan, Director?” the assistant asked, his voice hopeful and eager.**

**“Yes, one that will hopefully solve both problems. But speed is of the essence.This must be accomplished quickly.”Gerol nodded and left.**

**“Soon, you will fulfill your ultimate destiny, my friend,” Jerintas murmured to the agitated individual in the next room.**  
  
---  
  
[**Chapter One**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories1.htm)  
  
---  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	2. Chapter 2

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
---  
  
**Chapter One**

**Minta stood just inside the door of the hospital room.Her tall, willowy body leaned casually against the frame; her eyes scanned the room around her.She always did this when assigned a new unit to teach.A lock of almost white, light blonde hair fell into her face and she absently reached up and pushed it behind her ear.The room was like any other room in this wing, small, spare in furniture and trappings, and antiseptic.A narrow bed stood out from the opposite wall, railings on each side.A small utilitarian stand stood next to it, and a recessed light shone softly above the bed.The only other items were the tiny table next to her where she had found the chart for this particular unit, and an accompanying chair.**

**Her long, dark index finger slid down the sheets of paper as she skimmed the information on the pages. _So, this is an experimental unit_.She sighed.After reading about half of the material, she looked up and gazed carefully at the new unit.She noticed how light-skinned this unit was and wondered which laboratory was experimenting this time and why. . . .Units were created with subtle differences, but never had she seen one so abominably light in skin color.It was almost white.Then she realized, in shock, that it also had facial hair.Of course, the hair only thinly covered the lower part of its face and was a bit thicker along its upper lip, but it was definitely facial hair.Dark like the hair on its head.What kind of demented idea was this to create a unit that had light skin and dark hair?It was all backwards. **

**This one was so still that if she had not noticed its chest slowly rising and falling, she would have examined it more carefully to see if there was life.She noticed slight eye movements behind the closed eyelids and an occasional twitching of a finger.Then the unit moaned softly.Minta stepped closer to the bedside to examine it, pulling down the side railings.This one was not a totally new unit, the chart said.It had been slightly injured.But the directions were to teach the unit as though it were new, give it basic instruction, and then others would take over its education.**

**_How in the world would a new unit get itself into such a predicament_? she thought to herself.New units were not mere clones, the results of a biological gestation.Upon creation they were fully grown entities, but their minds were empty; devoid of any kind of feelings, memories, or understanding of the world around them, even to not knowing how to speak, walk or feed themselves.That was the way it had always been; the Rantiri in charge of creating the units mass produced them and she and her colleagues taught them, first giving them the skills they needed to function for themselves—Minta liked to think of it as awakening their newly created brains to a higher level of consciousness.She hoped that in the short time these units were with her, that she could stimulate them into new levels of thought, that they would have the initiative to continue to progress beyond the selected and restricted memories that were given to them later.**

**Minta thought of all of the new units that had been assigned to her over the past few years, coming to her like ciphers, like the infants that she had read about. _No_ , she thought, _they were less than infants.The infants she had read about were curious, wanting to know about the world around them._ _Units_ _were devoid of that kind of curiosity; they were devoid of soul._ Minta jerked back in surprise. _Where did that word come from_? she thought in surprise.Then she shook her head, pushing that disturbing thought from her mind.Regardless of what it was called, new units just weren’t capable of doing anything for themselves, much less getting around enough to cause themselves injury.This unit would bear close scrutiny.**

**She turned her attention back to the chart, male, she read.Even with the deviations, that is what she thought it was.Minta felt as though eyes were watching her and she looked up.The unit was gazing at her.There was bewilderment in his countenance; that was normal, but there was something else, something that she had never seen before in a new unit.There was something that she had rarely seen other than in more fully taught units.He seemed curious.**

**He gazed into her face and then his eyes traveled down her body as far as his line of sight allowed.For some reason, Minta felt slightly embarrassed at this male unit’s perusal.He seemed to be examining her, even beyond the slightly loose fitting, cream-colored, utilitarian jumpsuit that was her uniform. It was as though he already knew the differences between himself and her.After scrutinizing what he could see of her body, he looked at her face again and when she didn’t respond right away, he started glancing around the room.He frowned slightly, as though he wasn’t happy with his surroundings.**

**_That’s ridiculous_ , Minta thought.He didn’t know enough to be happy or unhappy with what was around him.Of course, they could have made a mistake and sent her a half-educated unit, forgetting to note that fact in his file.**

**With a bright smile, which was not totally affected, because Minta loved giving new units the things that they needed to think and act for themselves, she reached for his hand and picked it up.She felt something different, but she kept her eyes locked onto his, studying his reactions.His gaze traveled to their interlocked fingers and he examined them as though seeing fingers for the first time.That was a more normal reaction, she thought.**

**He moved his hand up, still holding on to hers, as though to study it closer. Then he softly, almost as though caressing her fingers, slid his hand back a bit, stopping to hold just the tips of her fingers.He turned her hand, looked once more into her amethyst violet eyes and then reached over with his other hand to feel the lighter palm. She noticed only then that he had just four fingers.They looked slender and strong, but there were only four, plus the thumb.For some reason, his touch sent a chill up her arm and down her spine. _What kind of unit is this?_ Minta wondered.And what possibly could be the purpose of creating a unit so different from the norm?**

**His next movement totally surprised her.He pulled her hand toward his face and placed it against his lips, lightly caressing.In surprise, she jerked back making a small cry of astonishment, her eyes wide.His eyes showed some measure of surprise as well, whether from her cry or from his own action, she didn’t know which.**

**Minta stepped back toward the table and sat down.Her fingers were almost trembling.There was something about this unit that she had never experienced before in her years of teaching.She had to finish reading the report.This time Minta didn’t skim the words; she read and reread them, devouring them in order to understand what she was up against with this unit. But she found little to enlighten her.**

**She tried to recall when she was a new unit and really couldn’t remember any of her days in the hospital.Her first memory was of a trip to a pond.She remembered her delight at the violet sky, the deep green leaves of the spider limbed trees, the ivory spinster birds and the soft moss beneath her feet, yellow green, soft and spongy to the touch, and soothingly cool.The crisp air refreshed her, making her feel happy, the soft chatter of the birds and the calling of the tree inhabitants mesmerized her.The cool wetness of the water in the pond seemed to caress her fingers, while at the same time sending a chill up her arm.She couldn’t get enough.**

**She had been so happy that she didn’t want to return to her group home.Minta had cried as her mentor had led her back to the stark gray building that was her home until her place in society was decided.The mentor had shushed her and told her they would return, but all that night she had dreamed of open skies and moss and trees and leaves.And she had cried.Shaking her head, she turned her thoughts back to the present.The past was done, over.**

**Minta continued to study the pages of information.She was startled by a sound behind her.Jerking around in the chair, she saw the unit slide feet first to the floor, his hands catching the side of the bed before he fell.He stood staring at his hands clutching the bedding while his legs shook slightly, as though unused to holding him up.Minta stood up slowly, not wanting to startle the unit, not wanting to cause him further injury.It was apparent, despite what the chart said, that this unit had received some training.It was also apparent that this was a unit of extraordinary initiative and independence.**

**The unit finally seemed to feel confident enough in his ability to stay upright to look up and gaze at her again.His eyes showed a desire to please and she smiled at his efforts.He gazed at her, as though noticing her smile for the first time.The corners of his mouth turned up and he returned her smile awkwardly. Could this be a unit for one of the new Merchant Alliance members wanting something special?Units were created because the Ancestors said it was good, but their use was not governed by the past and many found themselves in the service of patrons on other worlds.Although she had heard rumors, this was the first time that she had seen any evidence of units being created ‘to order.’**

**_Experimentation, indeed_! Minta thought.Another sound and she jerked her head up to see him shuffle one foot forward and then another.Minta sucked in her breath, wondering what surprises were next.The unit pulled his hand away from the bed and then began wobbling dangerously.Quickly, she jumped forward and took his arms in her hands, steadying him, keeping him from falling.She glanced down at the smooth, dark ebony skin on her arm that ended with five narrow dexterous fingers and a double-jointed thumb.Minta compared his own hand with hers. **

**His flesh felt warm and slightly furry.She did a closer examination of his features, deciding to get all the shocks over with at once.The thin hospital gown showed that he had hair on his torso as well as his arms and face.The bandage taped across the left side of his chest contrasted starkly with the darkness of the body hair.She also noticed more physical evidence that told her that this unit was male. _Very much so_ , she chuckled to herself. **

**Looking down, she saw hair on his legs.His feet showed five toes, big on the inside of each foot tapering to small ones on the outside.His hands grasped her arms with a strength that she would not have expected, but then, thought Minta, there seemed to be nothing about this unit that was normal or expected.**

**The unit shuffled forward one foot at a time; leaning toward her each time he brought a foot forward.When her back touched the wall near the door, he stopped, as though realizing that he could make no further progress.He waited for her next move.His face looked tired, but there was a triumph there, too.Minta found herself drawn to this unit much more quickly than she had been drawn to units in the past.There was something inside, something that gave him personality, even at this early stage.There was an awareness that was usually missing in units of the beginning stages; there was initiative and independence.Minta almost felt an aura surrounding this unit, an aura of pleasant singularity.Again she wondered what kind of a new unit she had been given, but she was happy that he had been assigned to her.She felt pleasure in his presence.**

**Looking into his eyes, she decided to try his powers of language.“Did they give you a name?” she asked.He looked at her, his bluish-green, brown eyes showing slight shock at her voice and incomprehension of her words.He cocked his head slightly as though trying to figure out this last bit of information.**

**Taking one of his hands, Minta carefully placed it on the table for stability as he still seemed a bit unsteady.Then she raised her hand and pointed to her chest.“Minta,” she said distinctly, continuing to point and repeat her name.“Minta.”**

**“Meen- tah,” the unit said, pointing to her with his free hand.**

**Eyes widening, Minta just nodded.“Minta.”**

**“Min-tah.”**

**“Yes,” she said, nodding and smiling.He smiled back and repeated her name several times until he was saying it perfectly.Minta found herself charmed.His smile was dazzling as well as infectious.**

**His legs began wobbling a bit more and she realized that he was beginning to run out of strength.She noticed the frown that had formed on his face, and knew that he realized his limitations as well and was irritated with them.Motioning to the chair by the table, she guided him to it.He sat down heavily and looked up at her, smiling his thanks.He pointed to himself, and with chagrin, she knew that he wanted to know what he was called.**

**Somehow she was disappointed that she couldn’t supply him with some kind of name.But that was not her place. She was the initiatory teacher; the secondary teacher supplied the names.By the time she was through with a unit, they were capable of basic tasks, and had enough language skills to handle a name.Apparently this unit was capable of such understanding right now, even if the language skills weren’t there.**

**“Unit,” she said evenly, feeling the name as something distasteful on her lips.**

**“Hyew- nit?” he asked, as though questioning his own designation.He seemed to have caught her repugnance.**

**She forced a smile and nodded.“Unit.”**

**He nodded slightly in return and repeated the word until he was saying it perfectly, too.Then he pointed to the table.Astonishment must have been evident on her face, because he cocked his head again and pointed once more to the table.**

**Numbly she answered, “Table.”He repeated the word until she nodded her approval, then he pointed to the chair.She said the word.He pointed to his hand, grasping one in the other to make sure she understood his request.Her astonishment grew and grew as he pointed, listened to her say the words, and then repeated.Finally she held up her hand and shook her head.It was nearly time to call for his meal and fatigue was beginning to etch itself on his face.She was becoming afraid that he would soon be too tired to make it back to the bed.He had accomplished in several hours what usually took days of repetitive work, and Minta knew that it wasn’t due to her expertise in teaching new units.**

**As she reached for his arm, he seemed to understand what she was after and started to stand up, clutching her shoulder for support.He wobbled dangerously and had to hang on to her for several minutes before he seemed steady enough to walk slowly to the bed.With her help, he was soon comfortable under the blankets, his head resting against the soft pillow, his eyes still following her every move.**

**She had to know if he was just mimicking.She started pointing to things.First the table…**

**“Table,” he said, his eyes holding a slightly puzzled look.**

**She pointed to herself.“Minta.”Next came the chair, he spoke the word flawlessly.Then she pointed to the bed.He frowned and shook his head.He knew!He wasn’t just mimicking.She was asking out of order and asking for him to repeat what he had not yet learned.He understood.When she brought her attention back to his face, he was pointing to the bed.“Bed,” she told him with a laugh.**

**“Bed.”He nodded.**

**Pushing the button by the table, she ordered the meal and wrote a few notes on the chart.Looking them over, they seemed sparse and limited.For some reason, she wasn’t able to fathom, she couldn’t bring herself to make notes on every bit of his progress. He was such an enigma and she wanted to know more about him.If the supervisors knew that he was this advanced, they might send him to a secondary teacher early.Finishing, she turned back to her charge.His eyes had not left her during the last five minutes.**

**“Minta,” he called to her softly.She looked at him, waiting.He pointed to the pen.She held it up and he nodded.Walking over to his bedside, she handed it to him.He looked at it briefly and then pointed to the chart.Shaking her head, she looked in the drawer of the table and found a small notebook of plain paper.She handed it to him.He took the pen, held it to the paper and tried to draw a line.Frowning, the unit looked at both ends of the pen and shook it.Then he tried to draw another line.Minta realized that she had put the cap back on.Apparently the unit had not seen her replace it and was frustrated.She wondered again just how much of his behavior was mimicry and how much was genuine intellectual discernment.Then she chided herself… she already knew the answer to that question.**

**Reaching over, she took the pen from his fingers and pulled the cap off.He smiled his appreciation and proceeded to write.At first he poked a hole in the paper from pressing too hard, then he wrote softer and was able to make perceptible marks.He worked for a short time and then handed the paper to her.**

**It was hard to make out and it was crude, but she could see that he was trying to draw her.He had shaded her face, left the hair the white of the paper, made her eyes large and round, her mouth smiling.The unit tapped her softly on the arm with the pen.Minta noticed that the cap was back in place.He pointed to the bottom of the page.**

**She frowned, not totally sure what he wanted.“Minta,” he said eagerly and pointed to the bottom of the page again, handing her the pen.**

**_By the Ancestors_ , she thought. _He wants me to write my name_!She laid the paper on the table and wrote her name at the bottom.Then she handed the paper to him.**

**He looked carefully at it, smiled and declared, “Minta.”Reaching over, he again took her hand and with decisive motion pulled it to his lips and lightly kissed the back of it.**

**His eyes sparkled with pleasure as she pulled her hand gently from his and looked at it.Her breath caught in her throat.This most certainly was no normal unit. _What have they created?_ she thought yet again.A buzz at the door jerked her back to business and she turned away from the white-skinned unit to get his meal.**  
  
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[**Memories in the Dust Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Table of Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	3. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Part Two**

**Unit watched carefully as Minta opened the door and took some things from someone outside.She turned and came toward him, her arms filled with various objects from which aromas and steam were rising.His stomach growled softly and he pushed himself upright, knowing that what she had received was something to eat.How he knew that, he didn’t know.A sharp, quick pain reminded him that he needed to be careful.Remotely, he wondered what had caused the pain.**

**He felt empty inside, not because he realized he hadn’t eaten; it was as though he didn’t know anything at all.There was nothing inside his mind.And yet, he felt he should know something.Unit didn’t understand, but then there was so much he didn’t understand.**

**Minta said something, but he had no idea what it meant.Why could he not understand?Why did everything seem so strange to him?What was it called, the things she was bringing to him?He should know.Minta spoke his name.“Unit,” she said, but that didn’t sound right and she said it as though it was something bad.He looked upward, trying to figure out why ‘Unit’ would be a bad thing to be called.The name ‘Minta’ sounded nice to him.It was a happy sound, like the other sound she made when she was happy.She tapped him on the arm.Her hand on his arm felt good.It was soft and it soothed him.**

**She was holding out something.He took it from her dark fingers and watched as she made motions for him to put it in his mouth.Emulating her actions, he took a bite of the object and chewed it.It was very pleasant and he took another bite, savoring the flavor.He held up the object and pointed to it with his free hand.**

**“Bread,” she said.**

**“Bread,” he repeated, making the sound over the pieces of food in his mouth.His mind supplied a quick picture of something similar, and yet unfamiliar.**

**Minta opened her mouth and made the sound that he had come to understand as a happy sound.He stopped eating the bread and watched.Slowly he chewed again and then swallowed, all the while watching her eyes.He found them hard to look away from.Finally, though, he tore his eyes away from hers and he looked at the other things she had brought.He pointed to one of them.**

**“Drink,” she said, holding a container to his lips.He drank it and it helped to ease the bits of bread down his throat.She pointed inside the container, to the liquid that sloshed around in it, and then she repeated the word.**

**When he had swallowed enough to be content he said the word, realizing that she was indicating what was inside the container and not the container itself.He pointed to the container.**

**“Cup,” she told him.He repeated the word, and then pointed to everything she had brought him in quick succession.Finally Minta held up her hand and stopped him.She said something else to him, but he didn’t understand.She stood next to him and pointing, said, “What?”**

**She was pointing to the bed.Now he was confused.She pointed to the bed, said the word again and then patted the bed and said, “Bed.”**

**He shook his head.“Bed.”**

**Minta sighed and looked around.She pointed at several things, saying ‘what’ and then their name.He watched, wondering what she was trying to tell him.**

**Minta stood back from the bed and pointed.“What?”She was gazing at him expectantly as though waiting for him to say or do something.He pondered.Then it dawned on him.The word she told him was another way of asking for new words.Smiling, he pointed to the bed and said, “Bed.”Then he pointed to her hair, which had fascinated him since she had first come in.Its color had reminded him of something, but he couldn’t think what it was.“What?”**

**She made the sound that he loved so much and said, “Hair.”Unit proceeded to ask ‘what’ for everything in the room, on her, and him.When he had at least temporarily exhausted his curiosity, Minta asked him randomly for every word she had taught him.Happily, he remembered them all.Finally, she started adding words to the other words.“This is…” she would say and then point to the various objects.Unit understood that these words added meaning to the objects.He wasn’t sure of their need, but knew that knowing them would make it easier to communicate with Minta.More than anything he wanted to understand what was going on, who he was, what this place was.Why he felt so empty and lost.He began pointing to the objects he had learned and saying ‘this is’ before their names.**

**She tapped him on the arm again to get his attention.“I am Minta.”**

**More words, but she used them as she pointed to herself, so they were important, too. _‘I’ must be for herself_ , he thought, after she had repeated the words several times. _Would ‘I’ be for myself_?Somehow, he thought it would.He pointed to himself, “I am Unit.”**

**Minta stared at him, with a funny look on her face and Unit thought he might have said something wrong.Then she smiled and began making the happy sound.He smiled, knowing that he had guessed right, then suddenly he was making a sound similar to hers. His was deeper than hers, but just as joyous.He stopped, surprised.It felt good, but he hadn’t tried to do it… it just came out.**

**Minta’s eyes were sparkling with happiness.He looked at her and asked, “What is…” and then he began laughing again.**

**Minta laughed with him and the sound of their happy voices blended into a lilting symphony that filled the room.They communicated, laughed and learned for a great while, until Unit began yawning, unable to help himself.He wanted desperately to learn more, but he was so tired.His eyes were closing on their own and he rubbed them, trying to keep awake.**

**“Unit.” Minta laid her hand on his.It sent a happy feeling up his arm.He blinked and gazed up into her face, stifling yet another yawn.“I must go,” she said, making motions to show that she would walk out of the room.His face must have reflected his understanding along with his disappointment.She made more motions to show that she would come back.He nodded, but was still unhappy about it.The door opened and another person came in.This person didn’t smile, laugh or show any pleasure.The individual took something out of her pocket and wrapped one end around his right wrist.The other she tied to the railing on the bed.**

**Sudden alarm made him jerk his hand away, but the restraint held fast.As the individual came around the bed and reached for his other hand, he pulled it out of her grasp.He saw flashes of something similar around his hands and ankles, something that he hated, that he had to get away from.She grabbed his wrist and pulled, he pulled away again, trying to move to the other side of the bed.Why were they doing this?Why was Minta letting this person do this to him?He felt a hammering in his chest, a closing in his throat.There was a prickling in the corners of his eyes; he felt something that he had not felt before.He wanted to strike out.He wanted to hurt the person taking away the happiness he had felt, the security he had been feeling with Minta.**

**Looking up, he sought Minta’s eyes and saw moisture in them, overflowing and sliding down her cheeks and dripping from her chin.She was unhappy, too.Unit struggled more and opened his mouth to call her.He saw her shake her head and then she pushed the other person aside and stood by his bed.“Unit,” she said softly, rubbing his arm.She said more words.He felt the pain on his side, heard the soothing tone of her voice and realized that he could do nothing right now but wait and hope that Minta would be back as she had said.Waiting, watching and thinking sounded right to him now.Much could be accomplished by waiting.Unit didn’t know why that was so, only that it was.He calmed down and let her take his hand.**

**As Minta gently put the restraint on his wrist, their eyes met.‘It’s all right,’ her lips mouthed.Her eyes said the same thing.The other person stood nearby ready to help, but did not see the silent exchange between them. When she was finished, the other person came near him again, this time with something else in her hand, something that shone with the reflection of the light above him, something that looked cold and not happy.Minta talked to the individual and the other person frowned and replied.They spoke for some time, their voices rising and falling, unhappy voices, but finally the new person put away the cold thing and left.Minta smiled reassuringly and left as well.The light above his head dimmed until he could only see the outlines of the table and chair. In his mind, Unit briefly thought he saw someone else who had walked out of his room and left him a long time ago.She was light-skinned like he was, with dark hair, kind eyes and a soft voice.She had never returned.**

**But somehow he thought that Minta would be back.He yawned and closed his eyes.**

**=====================**

**“What is the matter with you?That unit needed pacification.Why didn’t you let me give him the tranquilizer?” Tris hissed, anger etched deeply on her face.**

**“Because he calmed down and was passive.Why give him something that he doesn’t need?Somehow he trusted me.It will be fine.I will stop by and check on him at the end of my shift,” Minta explained, hoping that it would be enough to placate her co-worker.She had felt terrible when she saw the panic and fear in the unit’s eyes.She had felt like a betrayer.**

**“It better be fine, because if he causes himself harm, it will go on your report, not mine.”**

**“I understand, Tris.And I will check on him in a couple of hours.”Minta turned away and hurried down the hall to the next unit.She only had one other assignment.Thankfully the other one was almost ready for the next teacher and didn’t need her a great deal.She had spent much more than the normal time with the light skinned unit. _Why?_ she wondered.What was there about the new unit that drew her to him?She wished that there had been more information on him.It might make her job much easier.Perhaps she would be able to understand her feelings better, too.**

**Later when she checked on him, she found the new unit sleeping soundly, but when she pulled away the covers to check on his wound, she felt the tip of his finger touch her hand lightly.It was a soft, gentle touch, as though he only wanted to let her know that he was awake.**

**“Minta, back,” he said softly.**

**“Yes, I promised I would come back,” she said with a smile, pushing a button and raising the level of the lights enough to see his face clearly.**

**“Come back,” he murmured, understanding.**

**His eyes seemed heavy with sleep, but her quiet approach had still awakened him.“I came back to check your wound,” she explained, wondering if he would understand all she was saying.**

**“Wound?”**

**“Yes,” she replied, pointing to his bandage.To her dismay, there was a small pinkish stain.**

**“What is it? This wound?”**

**“I don’t know,” she said.He looked puzzled.Minta shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.Carefully she peeled the tape off, and gently pulled back the bandage.A partly healed cut showed itself to her and she turned the lights up a bit more to examine it more carefully.It was almost like a knife wound across his ribs, some having torn back open in his struggles. The unit was straining to look at it and Minta gently pushed him back down on the mattress.“No.Lie still,” she commanded.With a slight grunt of pain, he acquiesced.**

**Turning to the supply cabinet, she pressed her thumb into an indentation and heard the door click open when it had identified her.Gathering up the supplies she needed, Minta walked back to the unit.“I am going to… touch it.”She made motions to show the procedure to close up the torn section and re-bandage the wound.He nodded his understanding.**

**At times his breath hissed between his teeth, telling her of his discomfort, but never did he cry out or move.When she was finished and discarded the soiled materials in the small disposal chute, he was motioning to her.**

**“What do you want?” she asked.**

**He moved the fingers of one hand awkwardly in his restraints, but she could still tell what he was conveying.“This off?” he asked.**

**“No, I cannot,” she answered unhappily.She pantomimed what would happen when the other educator came in the next morning and found him loose.**

**To her surprise, he understood the entire sequence, nodding and giving her a smile of reassurance.“I understand, Minta.”**

**“You understand very well.How?**

**“I do not know.I…do,” and he shrugged.**

**Minta pulled the blanket up to his chin, touching the stubbled cheek.It was rough, very unusual, but still pleasant.**

**“Good night,” she whispered as the reached over and dimmed the light.**

**“Good night, Minta.Thank you.”**

**_He remembers so well_! _He remembers everything I have said today and everything I have taught him!What kind of a unit is he?_ she thought, remembering using the term ‘thank you,’ but not explaining it to him.She walked down the corridor in a daze.The chill of the night air didn’t bother her, even though the breeze pulled at her luminous flaxen hair, flipping it into her eyes.During her entire journey home on the rail commuter she thought about this unit.She was glad that the other unit under her care was going to the secondary teacher tomorrow.For some reason, she felt she had to spend more time alone with this unit.**  
  
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[**Chapter Three**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories3.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	4. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Three**

**Unit was flying.No, he wasn’t flying; he was riding on the back of something.Something warm, alive, smooth, powerful and very, very beautiful.It was large, with four long legs, and covered with short hair.It had a long, curved neck with longer hair along the top that flowed and swirled in the wind, sometimes hitting him in the face.It had pointed ears on top of its head that moved forward and backward, as though trying to hear everything around it.The beat of its feet on the ground matched the rhythm of his own heart.**

**A warm wind was blowing and it alternately caressed and beat against him as the marvelous animal raced across hard earth.Unit laughed at the sheer joy of such freedom and power.The animal also made a sound that seemed like laughter to him, rumbling first from the interior of its barrel-shaped body and gaining strength as it flowed through the neck and out of its mouth. The wind blew their laughter behind them almost before it came from their lips.Looking down, Unit saw little wisps of dust puff up as each large foot hit the ground.Looking behind him, he saw the wisps gather into great billows that marked and celebrated their passage.**

**Behind him a large yellow orb shone warmly on his shoulders, illuminating the landscape all around him in shades of orange and red.Above him, puffy white clouds glowed in the darkening blue expanse.It seemed endless, and yet he felt as though he might reach up and touch the sky.Great, rugged hills rose on both sides of him, in their varied shades of gray, brown and yellow.As the fabulous animal continued, the hills smoothed, became round and gentle, and covered with growing things of various tones and textures.Grass waved gently, bowing as they passed.Trees lined the road on which he was traveling, some of them great, huge things with massive limbs hanging over the road, others small and tiny, waving in the wind as they swept by.**

**He was laughing again as a large fallen tree trunk appeared before him.Before Unit even had time to think about what was happening, the beast beneath him gathered its hindquarters and sailed over the obstacle.Now he was indeed flying and he loved it.The animal came down with only a slight jar and continued as though nothing had been there at all to impede its progress.But the leather straps wrapped around his wrists burned slightly as he urged the animal on to greater speed.Unit tried to unwrap the binding strips, but they only tightened more and tore at his wrists painfully....**

**His eyes opened to darkness, the only real thing remaining from his dream was the burning of his wrists.Looking down, Unit saw in the dimness, the contrasting white of the special mitts they had put on his hands to try and keep the restraints from tearing his wrists.They only partially succeeded.Although he tried to keep from tugging at them, Unit often woke up to find himself jerking and pulling, trying to free himself.He frowned and then dug underneath his body, searching for the object he had hidden earlier in the day.**

**Minta had only been able to come briefly that day.Somehow his day had seemed longer and the room had seemed smaller.There were times when he was alone that he had found himself pacing, stopping at the door, wishing he could open it and just walk out.**

**The other two people who came never seemed to be happy and he had held back, only doing that which he was asked to do.There were times when he simply looked at the other teachers blankly, as though not understanding.For some reason he could not fathom, he didn’t feel right about letting these other people know what he could do and what he had learned.Minta had been very surprised at how quickly he learned and Unit got the impression that other units didn’t learn as fast.It was something he didn’t really understand, it was just something that was.**

**Unit continued digging under his sheet with his restrained hand until he found what he was looking for.It was difficult with the mitt on his hand, but he kept trying until he felt the two objects.It was a fork from his most recent meal and a hairpin that one of the teachers had left on the table when she had fixed her unruly hair.He had watched Minta and others when they had undone the restraints and noticed that they had always put long, thin pieces of metal in holes on the bands.He poked with the fork, but it broke.Then he dug with the hairpin.Even at the awkward angle at which he must work, the pin went into the hole easily and he wiggled it around, listening for the clicking sound that would tell him that he had succeeded.He felt the sweat rolling down the side of his face and lodge in the itchy hair of his cheek.**

**Click!Unit sighed with relief as he pulled his hand from the now open restraint.Taking the pin with his free hand, he repeated the process on the other one, smiling with deep satisfaction when another clicking noise heralded his newfound freedom.Pulling the mitts off, Unit examined his abraded and swollen wrists and then slid off the bed.He felt stiff, his muscles underused.His body felt restless, in need of the same freedom that his mind seemed to experience during his dreams.He paced, striding back and forth in the confines of the tiny room.Then he leaned up against the wall, pushing, feeling the muscles of his arms stretch and then grow taut, becoming limber with use.In succession, he lay on the ground and exercised, first sit ups and then push ups, anything that kept his body in motion and let him feel the pulling and bunching of his muscles, then he jumped up and stretched and bent, tensed and relaxed.The soft, lightweight material of the cream-colored jumpsuit that Minta had given him to sleep in stretched with his movements. There was no pain from his almost completely healed wound.Sweat gathered and trickled down his chest, which rose and fell faster with the increased exertion.Too soon he had to stop and rest, panting lightly, feeling his heart race.**

**Unit was not satisfied and when he had recovered his breath, he began pacing the room again, back and forth, back and forth.Suddenly, he stopped.This was not what he wanted either; there was something missing, something that his body wanted to do, but he could not pull it from his mind. He picked up the fork that he had tried to use to open his restraints, balancing the shaft lightly between his first finger and the ball of his thumb.He did not wish for anyone to discover him with it.Folding his other fingers around it, Unit turned to put it on the little table.Then he stopped.Somehow it should feel heavier, he thought.In his mind, it lengthened, became long, round and deadly.The handle thickened and a piece of metal appeared in front of his hand.The tiny vision showed him what was done with the thing in his hand.Joyfully, Unit exercised some more, this time lunging forward, his weight on his right foot, one arm, the one holding the fork, outstretched.Then he retreated.He smiled, feeling the rightness of his moves, power in his muscles.Forward and back, over and over again, until once more he had to stop and rest.**

**Occasionally he put his ear to the door, listening for the sounds that would tell him that morning had arrived.Finally his tired body and mind were satisfied, the compelling urge to keep moving abated.Unit returned to his bed, slipping his hands into the hated mitts, which he then put into the restraints.One he clicked shut, the other he was not quite able to shut one-handed.So he hid the pin under his sheets, closed the restraint as best as he could, and then waited, and during his wait, he fell back to sleep, to dream of a deep blue expanse of moving, churning water, and a lady with skirts that rustled like thousands of gauzy-winged butterflies.**

**The next morning the caretaker expressed astonishment at the laxity of the caretaker before her and relief that the unit had not tried to get out of bed, thus possibly hurting itself.Unit watched in amusement as the teacher wrote something on the chart.**

**===================**

**The unit’s wound healed quickly, leaving only a thin pink line half buried in the dark thatch of hair on his chest.That hair never ceased to amaze Minta, used only to hair above the eyes and on top of the head.Similarly, her lack of the same seemed to hold an identical fascination for him.Sometimes he would stroke his fingers along the lower part of her arm, just to feel the smoothness.**

**After a little more than a week, her charge was fairly conversant considering that he had not been out of the confines of his room.She had brought in a few picture books, such as those that were used to teach some of the new units in their secondary stages of education, and the two of them had spent hours looking them over, he asking innumerable questions and she trying to answer them all.Minta chafed at not being able to take him outside.She felt that he would have the same pleasure at the world around her as she had when she was a new unit, the same pleasure that she had even now when she went to the park.But she also feared.She feared the powers above her finding out just how well Unit was doing; fearing that they would take him away from her, sooner rather than later.Sometimes she wondered if her attachment to him was a good thing and if it would be better for him to go now, before she became overly bonded with him.Then she wondered if she already had, but that thought was dismissed.She simply could not imagine not teaching this unique unit.**

**“How long do I have to stay here?” he asked, bringing her back from her reverie.They had been sitting on the edge of the bed, looking over a book of simple pictures.She gaped at him for a brief moment wondering if he could also read her mind.He saw her look and cocked his head, a sure sign that he was unsure of something.“Did I ask something wrong?”**

**“No, you didn’t.It is just that I was thinking how much you would like to go outside, and maybe have a picnic.”**

**“A picnic?What is that?”**

**“That is where you take your dinner and eat it outside,” Minta explained.**

**Unit looked at the wall, his face reflective, the coarse hair around his mouth making him look almost serious.He reached up and absently scratched under his chin.He had been doing that a lot lately.“I think I would like to go outside.I do not like it in here.It is too small… too….” Her companion paused, not having the right words to convey his thoughts, but Minta thought she knew what he meant.He put his hands close to each other to elaborate for her.**

**“I think you mean confining.You feel confined, shut in,” she explained.He nodded.Minta continued, “I am going to take a chance and see about getting permission to take you on an excursion soon.I can’t promise, but I will try.Two weeks is a bit soon to take new units on excursions, you know.”She said with a smile, then paused and watched him as he continued to rub his chin. “Does the hair on your face bother you?” she asked, as he continued to scratch.**

**“Yes, it makes me want to….”Unit made motions to indicate scratching.**

**“It itches and makes you want to scratch,” Minta said, supplying the words he didn’t know.“I will see if I can get something to take it off,” she added, chuckling.She expected him to laugh with her as he often did, but instead he just looked more serious.**

**“Minta, what will happen to me?” he suddenly asked.**

**She slid off the bed, walking toward the door, unhappy to be reminded of the inevitable separation.Minta heard his soft footfalls behind her and then felt his strong hands grasping her shoulders.“I don’t know,” she answered, her voice almost a whisper.“You will be sent to another teacher and live with other units.”His grip seemed to tighten.She almost gasped at his strength.**

**“When will that happen?”**

**“When they feel you have learned enough to take care of yourself,” she said, bluntly.**

**“That is why you have not written much on the chart. So they will not think I am ready for another teacher?”**

**“Yes.And if I get permission to take you outside, you must not act so independent,” she said, concerned.**

**“Independent?”**

**“That you can do everything for yourself,” she replied.Again, he nodded his understanding.**

**Getting permission took two days, longer than she wanted, but shorter than she expected.They both laughed when she brought him the news.Minta had it planned; she would take him to the same park she remembered.It was on the hospital grounds, nearby, so they would be able to walk to it.Checking the weather forecasts, she found that the day would be perfect.**

**============================**

**On the day of their excursion, Minta had finally brought in various items that would help Unit get rid of the hair on his face, mostly items that were used to cut hair on the head, but some were items that were used surgically.She had worried the whole time she had walked toward his room, expecting someone to say something to her, challenge her for having such dangerous items in the new units’ training wing.When she got to his room without incident and dumped the various items on his bed, Unit peered at them carefully.Without saying a word, he picked up the scalpel, walked into the little cubicle that served as a bathroom and turned on the water in the tiny sink.**

**Curious, Minta followed, watching through the narrow doorway as Unit studied his reflection in the mirror.He ducked his head, wetting his face and hands.Then he squeezed a small amount of the soap gel on his hands and rubbed it on his face.Carefully, he applied the sharp side of the scalpel to the coarse hair.She gasped in fear that he would slice his cheek open.With a faraway look, Unit scraped along his cheek, stroke after stroke, sometimes going back and scraping off what he missed.When he turned to her she saw that he had taken off all of the hair except for a small, thin line above his lip.They looked at each other for a moment.**

**“Why did you leave some?” Minta asked.**

**Unit shrugged.“I do not know.It just seemed right.Does it look right to you?”**

**Minta paused and gazed at him thoughtfully.Yes, somehow it did look right on him.She couldn’t understand it either, but didn’t question her feelings.Nodding, she said, “Yes, it does.”She paused again.“Did it hurt, all that scraping?”**

**“No, not really.My skin itches where it was… scraped.”**

**Suddenly Minta laughed.The day was going to be wonderful.“You do look ready for a day outside, Unit.Are you ready?”**

**“YES!” he exclaimed, his eyes glowing with anticipation.**

**As they walked out of the room and down the corridor, Unit received startled glances from all he met, but no one said anything.A few new units were taking short walks in the corridors.They were too intent on what they were doing to notice Unit, but the others, the teachers and other workers all gazed at Minta’s charge unabashedly before returning to their tasks.Minta sighed in relief as they made it out of the building without incident.**

**The sun was high overhead, ruby red and bloated, its light falling warmly on his skin.Unit felt the breeze stirring his hair and wafting lightly over his body.It lifted the material of the new clothes he was wearing.Gazing down at the shirt he was wearing, Unit felt the rightness of it, the soft dark-colored material lying loosely against his skin.The clothing Minta had given him in the hospital after he had awakened was fine, but this was so much better.The pants were of a lighter colored material, but they, too, felt soft.They let him move more comfortably than the heavier hospital outfit, too.**

**Unit looked all around him, delighted to be outside, to be free of the restrictive confines of his room.His wonder grew as he scanned the park.Other people walked near the pond, most stopping and staring at him before moving on, but others continuing to gaze, their eyes mostly curious, although a few seemed fearful.Unit felt self-conscious, but returned each person’s gaze with one of his own.Most were as dark-skinned as Minta, although some were a bit lighter, more like the soft brown of _champurrado_.Champurrado _?_ He had no idea what it was; that it represented something pleasant and warm.**

**He looked up again.The sun seemed wrong, the sky should be blue, not violet, the limbs of the trees should be raising arms to the sky, not drooping to the ground.Below his feet, spongy moss gave way, cushioning each step, varying in shades from yellow to rust.**

**Minta tapped on his shoulder and pointed to the milky blue water of the pond.Small ripples marked the passage of tiny creatures below the surface.Small, slender white birds skimmed across the pool, scooping their dinner with shovel-like mouths.The two of them walked down to the pond, Minta laying a blanket a short distance from the shore.They sat down, Unit continuing to gaze around him at the beautiful, but strange, similar but different.His mind was unable to comprehend why everything looked so exotic.Something was strange, but he wasn’t sure exactly what it was.He only had the images of his dreams to compare.**

**The dreams had seemed so very vivid and yet the spongy feel of moss beneath him was real, too.The soft redness of the sun was real as was the violet-hued sky.Minta handed him a meat and vegetable combination that was wrapped in flat bread. He munched absently, only remotely savoring the tangy flavor of the spiced meat. She handed him a cup containing a dark red liquid.The flavor of the tangy drink burst on his tongue and made him look down into the cup in surprise.**

**Reflected on the surface of the liquid was a face, a face that was like his, light skinned, but older, the chin was covered with hair slightly lighter than Minta’s, but coarse like the hair he had scraped off earlier in the morning.In the reflection’s hands were small, globed fruits, each one deep red and perfectly round. The man in the cup was happy, his mouth parted in a laugh.After a brief moment, Unit thought that he could hear the laughter.It was as though it was coming from far away, it was so soft, and yet he heard it clearly in his mind.The face seemed to be looking directly at him and the mouth formed a word.Like the laughter, it was almost inaudible to his ears, but he could still hear it… ‘Diego.Diego’**

**“Unit,” Minta said softly, breaking into the vision.“Unit?What is it?I thought you would be happy out here.”Her hand lay softly on his.“Unit?”**

**As the vision faded, he felt a deep sense of sorrow, but as he thought about the old man’s words, he understood and his disappointment changed to joy.“Not Unit.Diego.I am Diego.”**  
  
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**[Chapter Four](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories4.htm) **  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	5. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Four**

_**A quickly constructed unit lay on one of the surgical tables dressed in a thin, white hospital gown.It looked around, but appeared totally disinterested.Jerintas was pleased.The unit, created using some DNA material from the designee, mainly that of eye, skin and hair color, as well as hand formation, had exceeded the director’s wildest expectations.The unit on the table was a virtual duplicate of the ‘selected one,’ at least outwardly.**_

__

_**A door on the far side of the room opened and the bound form of the chosen one was wheeled into the transference room.He lay on the gurney, also clothed in a knee length white hospital gown.He did not struggle, but looked around him, his eyes surveying the entrance as well as every other part of the room.He looked at the machinery, his eyes widening at the array of technology surrounding him.Knowing of the primitive state of this man’s society, Jerintas could only imagine how much the sight and sound of such a vast collection of machinery would overwhelm him.**_

__

_**Only once had Jerintas seen fear in the eyes of the man before him.During the capture, the eyes behind the mask had shown a burst of fear, before it was controlled.At the time, Jerintas had wondered about that mask and the costume that seemed to cloak the designee in mystery, but there was no time…precious little time, and the alien had refused to say anything to them that would allow a translator to assimilate his language.Since that unguarded moment of the capture there had been anger and frustration, and a great deal of determination.Jerintas noticed the slight staining of the light colored material that had been given to the young man.Or should he say forced on the alien.It had taken three medical technicians to get the man’s black outfit off of him after his third escape attempt.They had not tried to put the hospital gown on him, choosing rather to let the captive remain naked if he chose not to put on the garment that had been left for him.The alien had continued to refuse to let anyone touch him; therefore his wound had not been tended to in the ten-day cycle that he had been on board ship.That worried the director, but, like everything else, he would take care of it as soon as the transference was made.**_

__

_**The alien’s gurney was placed near that of the unit.The Designated One looked toward the unit and made a soft cry of surprise, rising up against the straps holding him in place.He seemed unable to take his eyes off the unit, horror replacing the cold scrutiny.**_

__

**_Might as well get this over with,_ _Jerintas thought, slight twinges of conscience tickling his mind.In the writings on several worlds, he had read statements declaring that the greater good of the group was more important than the good of the individual.The Ancestors’ Deep Directive must be carried out, despite the rules of conduct that the Ancestors had left.It was simply too important and there might never be another opportunity like this one.Too many years had passed with too little effort toward reaching their goal, and far too little success in what they had been attempting._**

_**He motioned to the technicians, who wheeled the transference machine near the two men. The unit just glanced at the machine, but the designee stared at it, the anguished look in his eyes increasing.‘ Does he suspect?’ Jerintas wondered fleetingly and then pushed the idea away, feeling ridiculous for even considering it.He took a syringe from an assistant and grasped the arm of the Designated One, quickly plunging the point of the needle into the flesh and releasing the relaxant.Eyes filled with despair turned toward Jerintas.The Designated One opened his mouth and said something quite unintelligible to him, “Por qué quiere dañarme?”Then as the muscles relaxed and the eyes closed, Jerintas heard several more words, softer this time, almost in supplication, “Valgame, Dios!” **_

__

**_Jerintas jerked up in his bed, suddenly awake, the dream/remembrance of the time just following the capture of the Designated One still fresh in his memory.Reaching over to his nightstand, he touched the small lamp and was relieved at the soft warm light that dispelled the shadows.He just wished he could dispel the shadows of his mind and the dream that had lingered in his mind the past few nights._ _What was it that the Designated One was saying?_ _the director wondered.He knew that there would be no more sleep for tonight.Throwing back the covers, he slipped out of bed and grabbed a towel on the way to the shower._ _The needs of the race far outweigh the needs of the individual_ _, he kept telling himself._**

****

**_Later, in his office, he turned on his computer and brought up a decoding program.He added the words that he had heard, typing them phonetically.The program asked him questions and he answered them.Finally, after several hours of frustrating detective work the screen flashed and two sentences came up.“Why do you want to hurt me?” was the first, and “God place some value on me,” was the second.Jerintas sighed and bowed his head._ _The needs of the race…._**

**As he was deleting the words from his screen, a knock sounded at his door.“Enter,” he called out absently, still trying to get the accusing eyes out of his mind.**

**Gerol entered with a small packet of papers.“Director,” he began and then waited for his superior to look up.**

**Jerintas composed himself and gave his assistant a warm smile.Gerol really was an excellent researcher, as well as an enthusiastic follower of the Ancestor’s directives.His experiments had given hope for progress, slow though it was.But the doctor wondered if their latest adventure was going to backfire, doing more harm than good.On top of the almost botched capture of the Designated One, there had been the crash of a small surveillance shuttle.He had not even learned of it until they had sent the duplicate of the Designated One on his way and were back in orbit around the planet.Jerintas had been assured that the craft had been demolished.Mentally shaking himself from his sullen thoughts, he pushed any ideas of failure from his mind.They had already turned on this path; they had to continue to the end of it.He sighed mentally; there was so much more to the viability of the Rantiri race, the fulfilling of the Ancestors directives to become a people capable of procreation, then seeing what was needed and then just taking it.**

**“Director,” Gerol repeated.“I have the reports for the ‘new unit’ here and they seem very sparse to me.Are you sure you picked the right teacher for him?”**

**“I personally went over the records of teachers from all over this continent and chose Minta 246 because of her qualifications and success rate.Perhaps she doesn’t write much because she doesn’t have that much to write about.”**

**“But that’s just it, in her previous cases, she has been very detailed about every aspect of a unit’s progress, to the point of boring the reader with minutiae.This report has only the barest of essential data,” Gerol protested.**

**“I will read what you have and if it is warranted, I will investigate personally, Gerol,” Jerintas said soothingly.Seeing his assistant’s anxious look, he added, “Gerol, I understand your concerns.They are valid; this is too important to treat lightly.I promise that I will look into the designee’s welfare.”**

**“But don’t forget the export committee meeting.The delegation from the Huperis system will be there to negotiate for more units for their pleasure ships,” Gerol said.**

**“I won’t forget that, either, Gerol,” Jerintas said with a frown.He hated authorizing the creation of new units to be sent to other worlds to serve arrogant and self-serving races and their indulgent tastes.Only because of the need to fund the research did he allow it, but it still left a bad taste in his mouth.**

**“I will keep you updated on the DNA study, Director,” Gerol stated as he left the papers in front of Jerintas and turned to leave.**

**“Thank you, Gerol.I really do appreciate all of your work.”Jerintas saw the slightly smaller man beam with pleasure as he pulled the door shut.Looking at the papers, neatly placed in chronological order, he saw what the assistant was talking about.The information really was sparse, and yet it was almost impossible to hide the fact that the Designated One was progressing faster than a normal unit.Could this be a product of his being a member of another race?**

**Jerintas read on.His secretary brought in more papers as he was reading.Making a cursory glance toward the pile, he saw that there was a paper from Minta 246.Picking it up, he looked it over and saw that it was a request to take her charge for an outdoor excursion.Startled, he glanced at his calendar.That was awfully soon to be taking a ‘new’ unit out of its room.Normally units were still learning how to take care of their basic needs after just a week and a half, walking, eating, bathing, and things like that.Essentially the designee should have been no different than any other unit.Looking again at his calendar, Jerintas saw that he had a free afternoon in two days.With a quick flourish, he put his initials on the sheet to approve the request.He was curious to see just what progress the Designated One had made.**

**Two days later, Jerintas sat unobtrusively on a bench in the middle of the park adjacent to the hospital, watching for the arrival of the teacher and her ward.It took him a few minutes to realize that the Designated One had already arrived.They were near the pond, he gazing around him in undisguised amazement, she pulling food and drinks out of a picnic basket.The ‘unit’s’ back was to him, so while they conversed at times, Jerintas could not hear them.He decided to move closer and took up a position on a bench closer to the pond.While he seemed to be somewhat further along in progress than most new units of two weeks, the Designated One didn’t seem overly advanced.**

**Jerintas still had trouble understanding the conversation, but knew he couldn’t get any closer without looking arousing suspicion.He did notice, though, that most of the people nearby took the time to gaze at the light skinned unit, so he did the same.His jaw dropped in shock as the designee turned in his direction. The face had been shaved with only a thin strip of hair left on the upper lip.He looked exactly as he had at the time of capture. _But how?_ Jerintas’ thought furiously, coming up with and discarding ideas right and left.He could come to only one conclusion… the ‘unit’ was not wiped clean of memories.**

**Jerintas continued to stare unabashedly, pondering this new development.At the moment, he was very glad that he was a fairly private individual, not prone to public appearances on the telecasts.Minta glanced around her, looking in his direction several times, but not recognizing him.The director returned to the problem of the Designated One. Were his memories partial?They had to be, or he would have tried to escape as he had on the star cruiser.But how?Theoretically there should have been no memories.Theoretically. . . a word that could cover a world of discoveries as well as mistakes.And the process of stripping memories, like that of kidnapping aliens from their worlds was a new one.That hair on his lip seemed to be the only manifestation of memory.I wonder if that is why the Designated One seems to be learning a bit faster than a normal unit?This would bear a bit closer scrutiny. Jerintas watched for a little longer, before leaving and returning to his office. **

****

**=======================================**

**“Diego?Why Diego?Where did that name come from?How do you know?”Minta stared at Unit…no, Diego, in shock.It was inconceivable, unless one of the other teachers had gone ahead and created a name for him.But why would they do that?**

**“Diego is my name.That I know.Why?I do not know that,” he said, looking at Minta’s shocked face.“Do you not like it?"**

**“But… but who gave it to you?” she asked, still in shock from the revelation.**

**“The face I saw in the cup,” Diego stated simply.He wished he could have seen more.He wished he knew who this older man was.It was someone he should know, he just couldn’t remember.**

**“Wha…what?What are you talking about, U…I mean Diego?"**

**“The drink you gave me.It…there was something about it.I looked in the cup and saw the face of a man like me.Only he was older.His hair was white.Even the hair on his chin was white.He was holding something in his hand and saying something.I could not understand anything he said, except when he said ‘Diego.’I knew he was saying my name.And he had a great…liking for me.”**

**Minta had been slowly calming herself down.There had to be an explanation for all this.“And you don’t know who the man was?Could he have been a teacher, like me?”**

**Diego shook his head.“He was white, like me.I am the only white unit I have seen.”**

**Minta mentally chided herself. _Yes, he had said that, but I hadn’t been listening.How in the world could he be seeing something that didn’t exist here?Diego is the only white unit I have ever seen; the only one I have ever heard of.And the name Diego. . .such a strange name, and yet so distinctive.Where could it have come from?It could only have been a name given by another teacher._ “Diego?” Minta began and then paused.“Diego, did you have a teacher before me.Or did one of the other teachers tell you your name?”**

**Diego’s eyes flashed in the first sign of irritation that she had seen from him.“No, Minta.None of the other teacher’s gave me that name.The old man gave it to me.And no, I did not have a teacher before you,” he said vehemently and then stopped and stared at the sky.“At least I don’t remember another teacher.”He looked in the cup again, willing the old man to return, to bring him comfort.“Things are wrong.I wish I knew what it was.The sky is wrong.The trees are wrong.The ground is wrong.Even the water is wrong.In my dreams I see a blue sky, clear blue water, trees that have limbs going up to the sky.There are animals, powerful animals that can be ridden.They are very beautiful.I do not know what to think, Minta.I am…”Diego shook his head, got up and walked down to the edge of the pond.**

**Minta got up and stood beside him.“You are confused.That is the word you are looking for.I wish I knew why.I wish I could tell you the things that would help you feel better.”She laid her hand on his arm and they watched the fat water birds skim the surface of the water, calling softly to each other as they flew.**

**==========================**

**Minta didn’t go straight home that night.She stopped off at the archives.Rubbing her eyes, she wanted to pound the screen that kept telling her “Impossibility” whenever she put in the data about Diego.Never in the history of the people had there been a unit with racial memories.But what could it be?Did someone make a mistake and use the transference machine before his first teaching?**

**With sudden inspiration, Minta put in the Diego’s unit code and waited for the creation data.The information that flashed on the machine a moment later showed only his date of arrival at the new unit’s wing.There was no creation data. Odd, she thought.Just to check out the reliability of the computer, she keyed in the code for her previous unit.The data sheet that flashed up on that one was complete.Date the order was initiated, date the unit creation process was begun and the date it was completed.Why was Diego’s so lacking in information?She clicked on the number in the lower page of Diego’s data sheet.That would at least provide the name of the individual who had completed the form.For a few minutes the machine quietly hummed and purred, almost soothing her into light sleep.She was so tired.**

**A beep jerked her back into full wakefulness.The screen was flashing a name.Jerintas 21. Jerintas?The Director? _What did the director have to do with individual units?_ Jerintas had only recently come back from an interstellar trip just before she had been assigned Diego.It was rumored that it was to find new DNA materials to improve the race of units.Could Diego be a result of that DNA search?Could he be a unit created from DNA culled from an alien race?That would explain the skin, hair and number of digits.But there was still no record of his creation.**

**Her friend, Klissa was on board that ship.She had been so excited at having been assigned to an interstellar research ship that she had sent word of her good fortune in big bold letters.Her friend would be able to tell her about the director’s latest trip.As soon as she arrived at her residence, Minta contacted Klissa.A weary voice answered on the other end of the line and Minta watched her rub sleep from her eyes.**

**“Klissa!How are you?I heard that you got back from your voyage recently.How was life among the stars?” Minta bantered.**

**“Minta?Do you realize what time it is?” Klissa murmured.**

**“Yes, I know you’re half a continent away, but I really need a favor,” Minta said apologetically, hoping her dearest friend from the training facility would still be as patient now as she had been during their secondary training.**

**“Minta, you know I could never refuse one of your plaintive pleas for help.What is it this time?” Klissa asked.Minta pressed the security transmission button.After a moment, Klissa did the same thing, looking at her friend in surprise.“What’s up?”**

**“Klissa, I am teaching a unit that is not normal.Not that I haven’t had units that are different from the norm before, but there is no creation data on this one.It was as though he was dropped from the sky.I was given so very little to go on, he is so different and I want to know some background on him.I don’t believe I can effectively teach units if I don’t have all the facts,” Minta said, quickly.**

**“Wait a minute, Minta.What does the teaching of units, normal or abnormal, have to do with me?”**

**“The papers have Director Jerintas’ number on them.He personally filled them out.I was assigned this unit just a day after you got back.I have also heard rumors that the main reason for your trip was to gather DNA.Is that what Jerintas was doing?” Minta replied.Her friend just stared at her and there was a silence that seemed to head into eternity.“Klissa?”**

**“Yes, it was, Minta, along with the source of that DNA.I have said more than I should and that is only because you are my friend.Maybe you should look at the Ancestor’s directives,” Klissa said in a soft voice.Minta could have sworn that she could hear a fearful tone in her friend’s voice.“I have to go now.You take care, and take care of that unit.If he is who I think he is, then you are dealing with a special unit.”The screen went fuzzy blank.**

**Minta sat staring at the dark communicator for a moment before putting it down. What in the world did she mean, ‘along with the source of the DNA?’ As far as she knew, most of the Ancestors’ Directives dealt with continuing the people… creating units.But did the Ancestors want the people to deviate so much from what was normal?And why did Diego ‘remember’ so many things?Units were empty shells, individuals that had no memories.But Diego had never been an empty shell; he had remembered the basic things, had been so much more advanced than most new units.Then it hit her; the source of the DNA would be with the people in whom it was contained.Jerintas had not only gathered new DNA, he had also gathered those that contained it.**

**“By the ancestors,” she moaned.** **Diego is not a unit; he is an alien!He was a biological entity kidnapped from another world!But he also acted like a unit.He could only remember bits and pieces.Had they taken his memories from him? _What have my people become--to resort to taking other beings from their homes, stripping them of their identities and then using them in our genetic experiments?_ Minta put her face in her hands and began crying.She cried for herself, for her people, but mostly she cried for Diego.**  
  
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[**Chapter Five**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories5.htm)  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	6. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Five**

**Alejandro stared pensively at the dying flames flickering in the library fireplace, the small glass of wine held tightly in his hand, all but forgotten, his thoughts on his son.Was he dead?Was he hurt?Had he really been carried away into Hell as the bandits had said? _Oh, my son, where are you?_ he thought.Heat prickled in the corners of his eyes, testifying to the despair that he had been feeling for the past two plus weeks.Each time he replayed in his mind the bandit’s words, new pictures entrenched themselves, horrific pictures of torment, pain and suffering. _Dios! What has my son done to deserve this? So why this punishment?Dios, por favor, bring him home to me.He is the only comfort I have in my old age._**

**But God’s only answer came through Father Felipe.“Alejandro, my son,” he said, breaking into the older man’s reverie.“If you are worried about Zorro, do not.This matter is in the hands of God.I also think that a great deal of what the penitent bandits told me and everyone else who would listen, are the ravings of guilty and depraved minds.Zorro will return to us.”**

**Alejandro jerked himself back to the present.He was sincerely glad that he had been facing the fire and not the priest.Blinking hard several times, he turned to Father Felipe.“I am terribly sorry, Father.I am a poor host indeed, but I cannot help it.I do worry.Zorro has done so much for the people here, including myself.”**

**“That is true, but all we can do now is pray for him,” Father Felipe said soothingly.Quickly changing the subject, he asked, “And Diego?How is his buying trip in Santa Barbara?Have you heard from him?”**

**Forcing himself to smile and suppressing the twinge of guilt for lying to a priest, he said, “Sí, he is waiting for the next ship from Mexico City.It is reported to have several breeding bulls on board and we are eager to improve our stock.” _Could this be why Diego was being punished_ , he wondered, _because of the little lies, subterfuges and somewhat less than honest dealings with people such as Sgt. Garcia_? _Surely not!_ he quickly reassured himself.**

**“It is good for him to take an active interest in the running of the rancho,” Father Felipe said with a slight smile.He finished his glass of wine and got up from his chair.“It is getting late.I must get back to the mission.Ever since the report of ‘demons’ in the area, the morning masses have been very well attended.So much so, that I have had to open the doors and let people stand outside to listen.It is too bad that we cannot have that kind of attendance every morning.”**

**“Perhaps the peons feel it will have more effect to celebrate the mass in the mission church rather than in the family churches on the various haciendas,” Alejandro observed.“My own workers have walked to the pueblo church or to your mission to attend mass much more than they did before.”**

**Father Felipe nodded in agreement and handed his glass to a servant standing nearby.“Somehow, I feel that all will end well, Don Alejandro.But this is God’s will.It has been good visiting with you.May God bless you, my son.”As Alejandro got up and walked the priest to the door of the _sala_ , his stiff, sore muscles reminded him of all the times he had been out riding in the past two weeks, searching for his son.Every night, for at least part of the night, he had been out searching, hoping, praying.**

**_And I will go out tonight as well_ , he thought, dismissing the discomfort as small price to pay if it would bring him some word of Diego.Climbing up the stairs, the old man paused, turning toward his son’s room instead of going into his own.Bernardo jerked up from the chair as Alejandro opened the door, his eyes penitent at having been caught sleeping.He made several quick motions with his hands.**

**“Yes, Bernardo, I am going out tonight, too.And I think that tomorrow it would be a good idea for you to officially ‘return from Santa Barbara,’ at least for a little while.All of this skulking and hiding has to be nerve-wracking,” Alejandro said.**

**Bernardo nodded and signed that another servant had nearly seen him earlier in the day.**

**The hacendado lightly touched the end of his son’s bed and glanced around the room.It had almost become a ritual.“Bernardo,” he said softly.“I cannot help but wonder if all the searching is futile.What those bandits said….”**

**Bernardo laid his hand on the old man’s arm in an uncharacteristic show of familiarity.He made some more motions, trying also to convey his thoughts in his eyes as well as in his fingers.**

**“Thank you, Bernardo.I agree; if there is any way for Diego to escape those who captured him, he will find it.Come, it is dark.Let us ride.Perhaps tonight, the santos will smile upon us.”Bernardo nodded.Alejandro stood in the center of the darkening room, staring at all of his son’s belongings.Bernardo motioned again, asking if he wanted candles lit.“No, Bernardo.I do not need candles to see what is here, nor do I need ears to hear Diego tuning his guitar or my nose to smell the scent of leather and Tornado when he has just returned from one of his rides.Go saddle the horses, please.I will be down in a few minutes.”Again Bernardo nodded and slipping through the little door to the secret room, stepped quietly down the stone steps to the secret cave where two extra horses waited for their nightly ride.**

**Shortly after the kidnapping, Bernardo had brought the horses to the cave, leaving Tornado the freedom of the box canyon, a precautionary measure, as there was almost always someone in the stable who might see the two men slipping out at night.Don Alejandro had determined to use Zorro’s cave as an access for his nightly rides.Resolutely, the mute saddled the two geldings, thinking of the news of that night sixteen days ago when word had spread through the area like wildfire. His heart had almost given out when he had heard.How could that be, he thought, that messengers from Hell had carried away the most just man in the pueblo?**

**For over two weeks, Bernardo had pondered, prayed and wondered, trying to find another explanation for what had happened.But he could think of nothing.He had ridden into the pueblo the next day after Don Diego’s capture, on the pretext of getting mail brought in by the early morning coach.His wanderings had taken him near the cuartel where the bandits were being held. Their loud voices could be heard even outside the gates and the mute had listened carefully, all the while playing with his little cup with its ball on a string.‘But they were pitch black, with long fingers!They grabbed at Zorro and dragged him inside the furnace of Hell.We saw it!’ they said, their voices raised high in agitation.That they had seen something frightening was a fact.Their tone of voice wasn’t that of someone just trying to cause a commotion.They had been genuinely terrified.He had continued to listen, but received nothing more to help him in his quest for understanding.The demons were tall, thin, white-haired and silent.With relative ease, they had overpowered his patrón, dragging him inside the bright, seemingly fire-lit orifice.**

**Now, after two weeks, Bernardo was almost beyond his wit’s end.The story of Don Diego’s trip to Santa Barbara could not hold off speculation forever.It was also inevitable that sooner or later he would be discovered by another servant.The mute had brushed Tornado and the two geldings until they had protested.He had practiced with Don Diego’s epée, and had prayed.He was bored nearly out of his mind.**

**He sighed as he heard Don Alejandro walking slowly down the stone steps.Don Diego might have been able to handle the long nights in the saddle, the furious pace of his ventures as the black-cloaked rider, but clearly the old don was wearing himself out.Worried, Bernardo motioned to the older man.**

**“No, Bernardo.As long as there is the least bit of hope, I will ride.Who knows?Maybe tonight we can find that opening where they dragged Diego and we can rescue him,” Don Alejandro conjectured, as he mounted.**

**Bernardo wondered about that, too.The place where the banditos had seen Zorro disappear was just over the crest of the hill, just to the southwest of the mission, but when he had gone there, the mute had not found a thing.Curiously, there had only been flattened grass and something that had the appearance of monstrous footprints.Shrugging, Bernardo mounted and followed the old patrón through the brush hiding the entrance of the cave.They rode silently, close together in the darkness.Although their primary purpose was to look for the younger de la Vega, they also had to watch out for El Diablo’s men who still roamed in the area.Even though the appearance of “demons” had subdued the gang, they still made their presence known, occasionally coming out of the hills and raiding a rancho, and with the passage of time they had become bolder.**

**Only the night sounds greeted them, a few birds, the flapping of bats, and the distant calling of coyotes. Suddenly Alejandro’s horse neighed, snorted and stopped short, shaking its head causing the tack to rattle.Both men sat quietly, peering into the stygian dark of the moonless night, listening, straining to hear what the horses heard.Alejandro drew his pistol from his banda, holding it ready before him. Then faintly, they heard footsteps. _Demons?Bandits? Or could it possibly be Diego?_ Alejandro felt his heart hammering in his chest and chided himself for being an old fool, to be so frightened of noises and shadows. **

**Then, suddenly, in front of them appeared an apparition-like figure, tall, imposing, dignified.The remnant of the black costume was torn and dirty, evidence of a fierce struggle.The cape was missing as was the hat, the sword and headscarf, but the man wearing the bedraggled clothing was seemingly unhurt.**

**“Diego!” Alejandro shouted, jumping off his horse, dropping the now unneeded pistol and grasping his son in a fierce hug.Tears flowed from the corners of his eyes, coursed down his leathery cheeks and found refuge in his beard.His son had returned.Diego was back.He laughed, he cried, he grasped his son, feeling his warmth, the strong muscles of his arms, his happy laughter.**

**Diego returned the hug, laughing with joy as well as relief.“This walking is not for the civilized man, Father.I would like to go home,” Diego said blithely.He looked at Bernardo, who had jumped off his horse and was standing at Alejandro’s side, grinning broadly and signing a welcome.Moisture was evident in the corners of the mozo’s eyes. “Yes, my friend, it is good to be back home.”**

**“Ah, Diego, you cannot imagine how I worried about you.But thanks be to the _santos_ for returning you to me.Indeed, let us go home.”Clapping his son on the back, Alejandro motioned him to get on his horse.As Diego reached for the saddle horn, though, the horse snorted and shied away.With a puzzled look, he tried again with the same result.The horse pranced nervously.**

**Alejandro looked at his son and then back at the horse.“What is wrong with him?” he asked in exasperation, only wishing to take his son home, talk with him and find out what had happened to him.Or maybe just sit by the fire and revel in his presence.**

**“I do not know, Father,” Diego said.“I can only think that they smell the scent of those who captured me.”Alejandro nodded.“Perhaps if you get on first, Montesor will be reassured.Then I can ride behind you.”**

**Alejandro concurred, mounting.He patted the gelding on the neck, reassuring him, at the same time pulling his foot from the stirrup.Diego talked soothingly as he approached, carefully watching the horse’s feet.With a quick motion and before Montesor could react, Diego was on the horse, behind his father.Both horses snorted, but soon calmed down.**

**“Ah, my son, you cannot imagine how happy I am to see you alive and well.When we get back home, you will have to tell me all about your escape,” Alejandro said, feeling comfort in his son’s proximity.**

**“Let’s just get home first,” Diego de la Vega answered, feeling inside some things, which seemed familiar alongside of those things that seemed totally unknown.**

**========================**

**“Minta, what is wrong?Are you sick?” Diego asked, concern very evident in his voice.**

**Yawning, Minta shook her head, “No, I am just tired.I had trouble sleeping.”Indeed she had.After she had finished her conversation with her friend, Minta had determined to find out just where Diego had came from.Thankfully there were public records of the recent space flight and she had been able to pull up the account of the _New Hope_ ’s latest voyage.There were two new planets visited, but she narrowed the search when she read the characteristics of the last one. _Clear blue waters, blue sky,_ Diego had said.She read, avid to learn all she could about her student’s home world and before she knew it, the sky had started to lighten with the approach of a new day.**

**But a basic dilemma had remained… how to get Diego back home.While she had prepared for the new day and during her ride to the hospital, she had pondered.The descriptions of his world had given her the vision of a very lovely, pristine, though in places, stark world.She thought of Diego, his memories not totally excised from his mind, but somehow suppressed.What would his life here on Rantir be like when he remembered more?That he was independent was so evident.That there was courage and strength behind that still childlike demeanor, she knew without a shadow of a doubt.His kidnapping was totally abhorrent to her, foreign to all she had been taught of the Rantiri codes of behavior.She tried to think of a way to get him back home, realizing that the director would not listen to her arguments.After all, Minta was just one teacher of units among many.A great deal of effort had been made to make Diego act like any other newly created unit.All she had known was that she was determined to get her charge back to his rightful home.However, her tired brain was unable to think that far ahead.**

**“You can lay down on my bed,” Diego suggested, bringing her back to the present.“I can look at the books you brought me while you sleep.”**

**Minta smiled appreciatively.“Can you imagine what would happen if someone caught me sleeping on the job… and in your bed?”**

**Diego puzzled momentarily over a few of her words, but soon got the basic idea.Then a thought from the inner recesses of his mind came to the forefront and he began to laugh merrily.**

**Now Minta looked puzzled.“What’s so funny, Diego?”**

**He pointed to her and then to the bed and himself.“You caught sleeping in my bed,” was all he said.**

**Minta puzzled for a moment and then her eyes showed a bit of humor mingled with embarrassment.“Diego!I cannot believe you said that.You know I… I mean… Diego, you are my student and….I mean you are like a fellow unit,” she stammered.Then she gazed into his eyes.“But you are special,” she added softly, knowing that he really was more than just a student to her.**

**Diego suddenly looked self-conscious and thoughtful. “Why?” he asked.**

**“Why?Oh...” Minta paused.Exactly what made him special, she wondered?There were many reasons, most of which she was unable to express in words.**

**“Is it because of my skin and hair?” he asked.**

**“Oh, no, Diego, those are only things that make you different. You are special because of what’s inside,” she said, pointing to his head and heart. “You are caring, gentle, intelligent, inquisitive and courageous.”**

**Diego shook his head.“I don’t understand all of your words, but I see… things in your eyes and your voice.Thank you, Minta.You are special as well.”**

**Minta felt her cheeks grow warm.“Why, Diego?Why do you think I’m special?” she asked, curious to hear his reasoning.She could see him trying to think of words to go with his thoughts.**

**“You help me…all of the time.You care; you are a friend.You are… soft,” he said seriously, pointing to her heart, and frowning slightly as though the word picked wasn’t quite what he was looking for.Then he smiled, “And you are soft on the outside, too.”He ran his fingers lightly down her arm.**

**Minta shivered, feeling something she had never felt before with another unit.Mentally shaking herself, she motioned him to sit on the edge of the bed and they looked over the books until the end of her shift.Somehow, after only a short while, she found that they had both moved closer together until their bodies were touching.Minta found that she did not mind that at all.**  
  
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[**Chapter Six**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories6.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	7. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Six**

**That night as she traveled home, Minta again stopped by the archive center to do more research.This time she decided to follow Klissa’s advice and look up the Ancestor’s directives.She found herself digging farther and farther into the past, back beyond the mythos of the Ancestors and into some of their actual writings.**

**‘ _It is such a hard thing to find oneself alone,’_ one old paper began.The name at the top, Dr. Morlif-Brocnor was one she recognized.He was one of the Creator Ancestors.Knowledge of him was transferred into most units during their secondary training.The document, dated five hundred years in the past, had been listed under the topic ‘soul-searching.’Startled to see that strange word again, Minta had immediately begun reading the document.‘ _Midlis and Wernt are wonderful companions, but they cannot take the place of my beloved Minta.’_ **

**The Creator Ancestor’s mate’s name was Minta?Startled, she quickly suppressed the sudden flush of pride and returned to the document. _‘At the end it was so painful to see her suffer and die of the sickness.I could not get her to eat and when she did, it made her even sicker.Oh, my poor Minta!If only I could have taken that suffering away from her.If only I could have figured out a cause for this malady that has destroyed us.If only I could have found a cure.It struck so quickly. By the time we realized the danger, our birth rate was zero, our population sterile.And by then, most of my people were too sick to understand what had caused it, too sick to stop it even if we had known the cause.A few of us are apparently more hardy then the rest.We are the only survivors of a once vital, proud and prosperous race.I used to keep in contact with my few surviving comrades, but one by one, they have stopped responding to my electronic inquiries.And most of the time now I feel so very tired, even though there is still so much to do._**

_**‘If it were not for my wonderful units, I would be so lonely, so very alone.I created them, using scientific research I had done before the disaster.The idea of intelligent life in a manufactured biological being is fascinating to me, but by the time I actually created my first two units, I was more in search of companionship.They are so much more than I would have thought possible.Although they were more like babies at first, having to be taught all they needed to know to take care of themselves, they are so very independent now, inquisitive and intelligent.They take care of me, treating me almost as a god, although I try to discourage it.**_

_**‘I am glad that I gave them the ability to replicate themselves. In fact with my help, they created a female unit using tissue samples that I had taken from my beloved before she became ill.Although the technology would allow a perfect duplicate of my dear Minta, I would not allow it.I could not have stood it!So the units are similar to Minta and myself, but there are differences, since I used DNA samples that were taken from other Rantiri.**_

__

_**‘I have been talking with Wernt, who seems to be most capable of understanding about the power of creation.I hope that he and his fellow units use that power wisely.I am astonished how intelligent these units are, and how they feel complex emotions.It is almost as though they are possessed of souls.’** _**Minta paused as she read the strange word again.**

**‘ _But perhaps they do have souls, because they do feel, they reason, they hurt for me; I_ _can see it in their eyes.I have told Midlis not to feel sorry for me.My life was full and rich, but he pities me anyway, telling me that he wishes there was something he could do to save me and the few others who are left.I told him and Wernt, just today, that I want them and all units after them to always search for the power of procreation.Bless their hearts, they didn’t quite understand what I was talking about, but I am going to write a paper with specific ideas for them and their successors to strive for.The units were created with most of our features; they look like us, they think like us, but we couldn’t give them the power to create new life inside of themselves, to reproduce biologically.I hope a future unit can do that.Then they will become us.That is my deepest desire.There can be no greater happiness than to create life in that way.I want my ‘_ children’ _to always strive for that.But most importantly, I want them to keep this soul that they have inside them now.Then they will be even better than we ever were.’_**

**Minta looked at the final words, feeling tears trickling down her cheeks.Then she read earlier words, most of which seemed to deal with his day to day life with his beloved Minta, and his children, who died before his beloved.She felt close to this Ancestor.His words seemed to pierce deep into her heart.Anxious to see this paper with specific plans, she continued looking into the database.**

**What she finally found appeared to have been originally scrawled on a sheet of paper.‘ _Directives for the Rantiri Units--1. To create units to perpetuate a semblance of the Rantiri race, 2\. To place in those units memories of the Rantiri, so that we will never die out.3.To strive, while creating, to remember that the ultimate goal is the rebirth of our race.Some physical deviation is permissible, but the inner soul of your creators must be kept intact, as much as is possible.The inner soul, that which makes the created most like the creators, is reflected in the following directives:a. Never cause intentional hurt, b. Seek peace.Avoid, at all costs, dissension and discord, and c. Please others before you please yourself.In so doing, there is self-satisfaction.When you have created units with those qualities, who follow the directives and can procreate biologically, then you will have become us, the creators.That is your deep directive._**

**Minta leaned back in the chair, the words of Ancestor Dr. Morlif-Brocnor burning in her mind.Now she understood why Director Jerintas had wanted to kidnap Diego, but clearly he had ignored the rest of the Deep Directive.As she got up stretching, she printed the Ancestors’ writings to a hard copy.When she walked out of the archive, she felt the papers crinkle softly, reassuringly inside her carryall.She had to figure out a way to get Diego back to his home.She had to.There was too much inside of him, too much of his own world’s ‘soul’ for him to ever be happy here with the Rantiri units.Even if he were the key to their becoming one with the Ancestors, it was not right for him to be forced to stay here.It was not right to use him simply as the means for making the units biologically complete.Minta stared out the window of the public commuter, gazing at the darkening landscape.Her amethyst eyes stared back at her, tears forming and threatening to spill down her cheeks.She blinked hard, trying not to show her emotions in public.She glanced quickly to each side, but she was thankful that no one was paying attention to her.**

**Minta remembered researching the topic of babies during her internship as teacher.The innocence of a newly born entity was somewhat similar to that of a newly created unit, but a baby already had things that gave it personality, made it unique.She watched films of babies; she had even had a pet brolar, a distant relative of the brisal.It was a baby and she loved the way it cuddled in her lap and rubbed against her cheek.She loved the way it depended on her, not only for its needs but also for affection.How she wanted to see, hold and feel a real baby, but it had to come in some other way, not the way that Jerintas had envisioned.**

**===============================**

**As they perused the pages of yet another book she had brought, and while Minta was thinking about her student’s insatiable thirst for knowledge, Diego’s finger paused at one of the pictures.His eyes widened with wonder and she leaned over to see what it was that had so engrossed him.It was a picture of a small commuter vehicle, one that accommodated four people.The look on his face was one of disbelief and she almost began laughing, then realized that such a conveyance would be totally foreign to him, even with all of his memories intact.His world was just beginning its industrial age.**

**“I see people inside and it is on a road, but there is nothing pulling it, Minta,” Diego finally said, examining the accompanying text without success.Several times during the past few days he had asked her to teach him to read, but except for a few words, such as their names and the place where he resided and a few words that he had picked up on his own, he was pretty much illiterate.Still, Minta had hesitated to teach him, determined that she would much rather return him to his own world, where knowledge of the Rantiri language would not be necessary.**

**“It is a commuter, a small one for just a few people.It runs on. . .electricity. . .”She paused, seeing the confused look on Diego’s face.“Um, it is like a fuel that feeds the engine that runs the commuter,” she explained.**

**“Electricity?Fuel?Engine?”**

**Now Minta did laugh.This was a case where the more she explained, the deeper she figured she would get.“I’m sorry, Diego, I am not laughing at you, really.It is just so hard to explain something so complicated, something that I don’t totally understand myself.And the look on your face. . .”**

**“It does not matter if you are laughing at me, Minta, because I know you…you are kind. You have helped me learn so much.I am just glad you are here, helping me to understand.I want to know about these things; I want to understand.I do know that I will not be here in this place much longer, but when I go to this secondary learning I do not want for others to laugh at my…unknowing.”Diego stopped, looking at Minta’s thoughtful countenance.**

**This was one of Diego’s longer speeches and she was gratified that he was becoming so fluent in such a short time.At the same time, though, it saddened her that he felt this sense of time-flow and impending separation.**

**“Electricity is what makes the light over your bed glow.It is the power that made the bed move up and down when you figured out the control buttons last week.”They both laughed recalling his wonder and amazement at the mechanical bed and how it seemed to magically move.He had pressed both the buttons, one after the other, making the bed rise and lower repeatedly.“Fuel for you is what you eat and drink each day.Food keeps your body moving,” she said, trying for an analogy he could understand.**

**“Then my body is like this engine.Ah, I think I understand.But to have a _coche_ that does not need a _caballo_ , that is truly an unbelievable thing,” Diego said, his face actually registering amazement more than understanding.**

**“Coche?Caballo?”**

**He paused.“They are words and pictures that seemed to come just now from my mind.Coche is what you ride in.Caballo pulls it or you can ride on one.They are beautiful animals.I see them often in my dreams.I ride them in my dreams and feel the wind in my face.I feel so… I cannot think of more words, Minta.I do not have enough words to talk about my dreams.”There was a longing on his face that almost made Minta cry.**

**“Diego, it is a wonderful thing that you remember your dreams.They help you learn about yourself and who you are.Most of the time when I wake up, I don’t remember my dreams at all.They are gone like the clouds that you describe, blown away by the wind,” Minta said.**

**“I see many things when I sleep and sometimes when I am awake, but sometimes they confuse me, too.”**

**“Give it time, Diego and I think you’ll be able to understand,” Minta said simply, not knowing what else to say to him that wouldn’t confuse him further.**

**He nodded and looked down, studying the picture some more.“It looks like a coche,” he finally said, as he got up and walked to the door and back.His movements reminded Minta of a caged brisal, a large and powerful predator of the mountains.In a cage, its power was only partially understood by those who watched.Only when it was free could one comprehend its real beauty and power.She wondered what Diego was like on his own world, filled with his own memories, a part of a whole, vibrant society and in control of his actions.“When we were having the picnic a week ago, why did my eyes see one world outside and my mind saw another one?”He had turned and asked suddenly, his green-brown eyes intense and troubled.**

**“I don’t know how to explain this, Diego,” Minta said softly, aching at the frustration and confusion that she saw in his face.Finally she took his hand and looked deeply into his expressive eyes.“Do you trust me?” she asked.**

**“Yes, I do, Minta,” Diego said fervently, without any hesitation at all.**

**“I know where ‘your outside’ is and I am trying to find a way to get you back there.You don’t belong here and you are not happy here.I doubt you would ever be happy here.”**

**“I might if you could be with me all the time,” he replied with a coy smile.**

**Minta’s heart filled with joy at his simple pronouncement and she smiled in return.“Thank you, Diego, for your confidence.I just haven’t figured out a way yet, but I will.”**

**“Perhaps in one of your ‘commuters?’” he suggested.**

**“No, Diego, it is more complicated than that,” Minta answered.**

**“I am thinking that it should be… um, figured, that is the right word is it not?” he asked and then continued at her nod, “figured soon.I do not think that I am … I think that one of the other teachers knows how much I know.I cannot act as a new unit anymore.”**

**“What?” Minta asked, her heart leaping in alarm.“How can you tell?”**

**“She wrote a great many words on the chart,” Diego answered.“Then she wrote on a different paper and put it in her pocket.As she wrote, she looked at me a lot.I could tell by her eyes.”**

**With the beat of self-recrimination in her mind for so neglecting the progress reports, Minta hastily looked over the past several days’ notes.What she saw appalled her.Tris definitely thought Diego was ready for the next phase.“Tris wrote this yesterday,” she said.“You are right, Diego.We have to do something soon.”She thought furiously and then jotted down a note to the director.Her fragmented ideas weren’t much yet, but they were the best she could think of for the moment.She hoped Jerintas would get an idea of Diego’s progress, without becoming overly suspicious of the differing notes or suspicious of Diego’s real progress.**

**“Diego, just be ready to do whatever I ask at a moment’s notice,” she said.**

**“Of course,” he replied.**

**==============================**

**Jerintas looked at Gerol with carefully disguised amusement, not wanting to hurt the researcher’s feelings.Gerol was highly agitated now, his eyes filled with anger.“And Tris 385 says that Minta 246’s feelings are more than those of a teacher toward a unit.”**

**“I read it, Gerol.I have been keeping up with the reports, all of them.I know what is going on.I do appreciate your concern, but at the present, I wish to let Minta continue to teach the Designated One.She is doing him much more good than harm, no matter what her feelings are toward him.”**

**“But… but, Director…”**

**With a wave of his hand, Jerintas cut off further argument. “Gerol, you must trust me.I think I know what I am doing, at least for now.”**

**“Very well, Director,” Gerol acquiesced, and then he turned and left.**

**Then Jerintas glanced down at Gerol’s other notes and became very excited.After so very many setbacks, this was much more than he could hope for.He had long thought that there were other factors beside the DNA that made the unity of two entities possible.For centuries, he and his predecessors had sought for just the right kind of DNA.And they had experimented, trying to find the right elements that would allow reproduction, but to no avail.Now he saw in Gerol’s report something that everyone had missed.**

**It was more than DNA!It was also various biochemical emissions in the body that made opposite sexes desirable to one another.When the Designated One was in close proximity to the unit Minta various readings seemed to bear that out.Jerintas studied the charts closely.Yes, all of those bio/chemical secretions could be duplicated if need be.**

**That Minta was drawn to the Designated One in more than a nurturing way just proved his theory and pleased him greatly.It also proved they had picked the right alien.He could see by Minta’s reactions to the Designated One that the Rantiri may just be ready for the final journey toward fulfillment of the Deep Directive. While he regretted what they had done, he felt that the outcome would justify his decisions.There would have been no way to discover these new findings without the Designated One.The Director was ready to see this experiment to the end.**

**Then as he smugly glanced over the charts one last time, Jerintas noticed something else--something that caused him to sit up in his chair in alarm.Checking the recent blood test results more carefully and then comparing them to ones that had been performed the previous week, he saw enough to write an order to have the Designated One retested immediately.If there was a pattern to what he saw, there might be serious problems.**

**He continued to work throughout the morning while waiting for the results, signing releases for shipment of units to other worlds, feeling the same disgust he usually felt at sending Rantiri into servitude under alien masters.Then he kept his appointments with representatives from other systems, arranging for even more units to be created and sent away.The negotiations left him feeling foul, more like a breeder sending animals into harsh servitude than the leader of a race of independent people.**

**Later in the afternoon, he received the results of the Designated One’s most recent blood test, and with a groan, laid it down on his desk.Every wave of guilt he had ever felt concerning the abduction of this alien entity came crashing back down on him.First the kidnapping in front of witnesses, then the erasure of the alien’s memories, then there was the crash of the surveillance shuttle on the Designated One’s planet and now this. _Perhaps_ _this is the retribution I get for overriding some of the Ancestor’s directives?_**

**With a sigh, Jerintas looked at the note in his other hand, the one he had received only moments before Gerol’s arrival and had left unread until now.It was from Minta, requesting another day out with the new unit.She cited his increased learning after his previous excursion as the reason.Jerintas initialed his approval immediately and sent it through the instant electronic messenger service.The message told him that Minta 246 had figured out Tris 385’s private notes.From her attachment to the Designated One, as well as her planned destination for her latest excursion, it was also obvious that she planned on trying to get him back to his planet.It would be very interesting to see how she would accomplish it.**

**Glancing back at the reports, he thought that if what he had just discovered turned out to be correct, he might want Minta to succeed.**  
  
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[**Chapter Seven**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories7.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	8. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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****

**Chapter Seven**

**Diego gazed at the coal black stallion in great frustration.He was dressed in costume but had pulled down the mask to deal with this latest problem.There had been no time to come down alone and get acquainted with the horse.The last two days his father had felt the need to quietly celebrate his return. They had played chess and bruja together, talked in the library, walked the nearby hills, and taken the carriage into the pueblo often.Diego had not had an opportunity to even think about the reaction of the horses until earlier this evening, when he had received word that the bandits had raided the mission the night before.**

**Diego remembered his father’s… that sounded strange to him even with the complete memories of the Designated One that had been given him on the ship after his creation.‘ _Father_.’To have absolutely no experience with a concept of a nurturing biological entity, someone who had cared for and raised another entity from babyhood, that had taken him aback for a few brief seconds.Alejandro, ‘Father,’ had been watching him in eager anticipation, wanting to hear about his absence.He had mistaken Diego’s confusion for reticence and had given him the opening he had needed. **

**“My son, if you wish to wait for a bit before telling me what happened to you after you were kidnapped, I understand,” the older man said gently as they sat by the fireplace in the _sala_ , smoking cigars.“Was it that bad?”**

**“ _Sí_ , I was held in a tiny room, recaptured several times when I tried to escape, but I do not remember everything either, Father,” Diego explained, not telling any lies, but certainly not telling the whole truth.“I think they were from far away.Whether they were demons or not…?I am not sure.I finally was able to make my escape during the confusion of their departure.”The little bits of information, plus the possibility he had given of partial amnesia seemed to mollify his father, at least for the moment.**

**Then had come the news that El Diablo was beginning his campaign of terror once more.He had attacked some of the mission workers apparently feeling emboldened enough in Zorro’s absence to begin a campaign of revenge.His father had wondered aloud why it had taken so long for the bandit to take action.Diego’s own answer that El Diablo’s gang had had the hell scared out of them had been received with a great deal less humor than it had been delivered with.**

**“Tornado,” he called softly, thinking, _How in the world can I follow through on the orders of the Director if I cannot even fool a horse?_ It was confusing, having all of the memories and thoughts of the Designated One in his mind alongside of the thoughts and memories of the Director Jerintas.Whenever he let Diego’s feelings take over, the others managed to intrude, momentarily putting him off balance.Sorting them out had become easier since he had come to the Designated One’s house, but it still took a great deal of effort.Now this!And he genuinely felt an affinity for this horse.It had carried the Designated One—him-- to safety many times.He closed his eyes to concentrate better.Everything was so new to him, but he had to succeed.His heart slowed.If he let himself become Diego de la Vega, he knew he could succeed. He opened his eyes.**

**Bernardo stood nearby, watching with concern in his eyes.He started forward, but Diego stopped him with a slight gesture of his hand.This would have to be something that he did for himself and he would prefer to do it alone.“Bernardo, go back to my room and wait there.Tornado is still having trouble recognizing me and I need to work with him alone.”Bernardo paused only for a moment, then nodded, turned and left.**

**“Tornado,” Diego said, even softer than before.Then he began talking, walking a bit closer as he spoke.**

**The horse gazed at him with curiosity, but also with the wary consideration of one studying a stranger. _And essentially I am,_ Diego thought.Tornado snorted and shook his head.Diego stopped his advance but not his monologue.Softly he spoke to Tornado, letting his Diego memories take over, pushing the other memories deep into his subconscious.Slowly he began to approach again, never taking his eyes off the magnificent stallion’s eyes, never pausing in his one-way dialogue.**

**Finally Tornado reached over and touched his outstretched hand, sniffing, trying to figure out how something so very different in one way could be the same in others.Slowly Diego reached up and stroked the horse’s muzzle, his touch as light as a feather.His heart reached out for the stallion, and he yearned to be the part of the horse’s life as it had been ‘before.’Tornado snorted, but didn’t pull away and Diego continued his touching, reaching toward the eyes and ears, rubbing between them and then letting his hand follow the lines of the graceful neck.Within the next half hour, Diego alternately stroked the horse with his hand and rubbed with the curry brush, only stopping when Tornado began nuzzling him.**

**Slipping on the mask, Zorro mounted without any further problems and rode out into the cool, clear night. The moon was just rising over the far horizon, bright yellow and bloated looking.The image of a dusky red moon, chased by another, tinier white one flicked through his memory, but Zorro pushed that thought from his mind and urged Tornado toward the mission, trying to get there as quickly as possible.While he had anticipated having to take some time letting the stallion get used to him, it had taken longer than he had thought it would.**

**The news of the bandits’ attempted retribution against the priests and the neophytes the night before had led him to strongly believe that they would attempt another attack tonight.And while the inhabitants of the mission had succeeded in turning back the assault with bows and arrows and sheer numbers, Zorro felt that tonight, El Diablo would come better prepared.The outlaw had to chuckle at the fact that the mission Indians seemed to have their own sources of information about the dealings of El Diablo.Just as Bernardo was ignored, so too are the Indians, especially their children.**

**Just before reaching the crest of a hill overlooking the mission, he paused, dismounted and continued stealthily, crouching low.Tornado followed, his hooves making only the barest of sounds in the soft dirt.In the moonlight, shadows flowed eerily, but he was still able to make out furtive figures skulking near the back gate of the mission.**

**“Tornado,” he whispered near the horse’s ear, “stay here until I call you.”The horse whickered softly, but stayed in place. Still crouching low, Zorro slipped from tree to bush to rock, pausing periodically to listen and look.The sword in its sheath felt comfortable as it bumped lightly against his thigh; the soft breeze lifted the ends of the cape causing it to flutter softly as he slipped across the mission grounds.**

**Near the large monastery courtyard, he paused again, listening intently, straining his ears. _There!_ he thought, hearing a snapping of a twig, the rustle of leaves near the pepper tree.He slipped through the cemetery and peered around the corner of the building.Three dark figures skulked toward the monks’ quarters.Moonlight flashed on the blades of knives and barrels of pistols.Zorro raced stealthily toward the tree and, grasping a lower branch, swung up into it.He took a moment to see where each bandito was located.**

**One turned toward the tree and hissed, “I heard something, Manuel.”**

**“You are loco!” whispered another.**

**Zorro grinned, quickly forming a plan, his Jerintas memories completely repressed.He gave a low moan, elongating the sound until it sounded as though it was coming from the farthest grave in the nearby cemetery.**

**All three bandits spun around, their mouths forming round O’s of fear.“What was that?” one asked.Zorro let out another moan and then leaped from the tree, his cloak spreading behind him like wings.Landing lightly on his feet, he whipped out his sword, the sound more like the hissing of a snake than the rubbing of metal.**

**“Zorro!” they cried, almost in unison.One pulled out his pistol and fired, but Zorro had already jumped nimbly aside into the darkest shadows of the huge tree.**

**Laughing, he called out, “I am very much alive, muchachos _,_ and able to send you to purgatory, unless you surrender.”He leaped back into the moonlit courtyard, his cape swirling around him as though it had life of its own. **

**Two of the bandits dropped their weapons and fell to their knees, moaning in fear, but the third whipped out a sword and lunged at Zorro.Laughing, the black clad masked man easily parried the wild thrust, answering with a slight motion of his wrist, which parted the bandit’s shirt, and caused the buttons fall into the dust.With a growl, El Diablo’s man slashed wildly, but Zorro ducked easily, returning each attack with one of his own. Finally, the masked man reached in and almost delicately tweaked the sword from his adversary’s hand.**

**By this time most of the inhabitants of the monastery had popped their heads out of the doorways and windows. They appeared to have been anticipating the arrival of the bandits, having in their hands spears, bows and arrows and garden tools.They rubbed their eyes and gasped, some crossing themselves in fear.The whispered word, ‘Zorro’ almost became a chorus. **

**The bandit, now weaponless, cringed at Zorro’s feet.“No, Señor Demon, no!Do not kill me, por favor.I will confess!”**

**Loud enough for everyone to hear, and making up his story as he went, Zorro said, “I am no demon, señor, although I have had to fight a few.With help from the santos and God I am back.Mainly, I believe, so I could come back after you and your leader, El Diablo.Does El Diablo think he can get away with attacking priests and mission workers?”Looking toward a doorway where Father Felipe stood watching, he added, “Padre, if you will send some of your Indians to tie up these men and also send someone to alert the lancers, then I shall take my leave.”**

**“Well met, Señor Zorro,” the priest said, holding a large wooden crucifix in one hand and making the sign of the cross with the other.**

**The Indians and monks tied up the three bandits, while keeping an eye on their spiritual leader and the masked man.Sheathing his sword, Zorro held out his hand to the priest, a bright smile on his face.Father Felipe took the outlaw’s hand and shook it warmly.Zorro looked down at the smooth wood of the crucifix, and then looked back into the priest’s face.“Padre, I assure you, I am Zorro.I am not a demon or a devil.”**

**“I believe you, Señor Zorro,” Father Felipe said quietly.“But it does not hurt to make sure.It is good to have you back.”**

**“Believe me, Padre Felipe, it is good to be back.I hope it will be safe now for you and the rest of the priests and neophytes tonight.”Zorro whistled and was gratified to hear hoof beats indicating Tornado’s approach.**

**The stallion pranced almost shyly in front of him, but didn’t move away when he grasped the saddle horn and vaulted onto the horse.**

**“Señor Zorro, please come back when you can talk about your experiences,” Father Felipe told him.**

**“I will, Padre,” Zorro returned, smiling broadly and saluting, knowing that to continue to allay suspicions, he would have to visit the priest in the near future.Turning Tornado’s head, he rode into the hills, feeling a deep sense of pleasure and well-being.Pushed away and forgotten were any Rantiri directives and memories that Jerintas had given him.**

**========================**

**The day of the second excursion dawned slightly overcast, cool, but not overly so.“This is perfect,” Minta said as she and Diego left the building.He again received curious stares from newer units.“I had worried about staying warm enough if we were out after dark.These jackets will keep us at least partially warm.”**

**Once outside, Minta grabbed his hand and pointed toward a nearby wooded area.While the foliage was not dense, it afforded more privacy than the pond had. They walked along a neatly groomed path.Diego gazed thoughtfully at the vari-colored flowers and purple-veined leaves on droopy limbed trees.Small, scaled long-toed creatures hung upside down from limbs, peering curiously at them with large and round eyes, their skin a light shade lavender.Diego’s sense of alienation deepened and he wondered why Minta’s place would seem so different from the place he dreamed about each night.**

**“What are those?” he asked, pointing to the creatures as they strode along.The reddish hued sun filtered through the leaves, seeming to set spots of the forest floor on fire.**

**“They are crilors.They eat fruit,” she answered, not slowing her pace.After walking for several more hours, Minta stopped.“We’ll take a few minutes to eat some lunch and then continue through the park to the service center.”**

**“Service center?” Diego asked, taking a proffered fruit roll.He was glad for the rest, this much walking had tired him out, much to his chagrin.**

**“It’s where people learn more about what is in this park.It’s also where people leave their commuters while they explore in the forest.It is also a place where one can borrow a commuter that will take us to the nearest city.When we get to the city, we will rent another commuter that will take us to a large ship that will take us to your home.”**

**“Oh,” he said, trying to assimilate what Minta had said.“Will the trip take long, the one that will take me home?”**

**“Yes, Diego, but not that long.The ‘commuter’ is a very fast one,” Minta said hesitantly, not wanting to give Diego more than he could handle technologically at the moment.They finished in silence, listening to the tree-dwellers chirping, whining and droning.As the sun’s heat penetrated even the shadiest parts of the forest, Diego stripped off the jacket.**

**“Did you get enough to eat?” Minta asked, digging around in her oversized carry-all.**

**“Yes, I did,” he replied, watching her curiously.**

**“Good, now we put on the disguise,” she said with a smile, taking out a jar, a knit cap and a cloth.**

**“Disguise?” he asked, not sure what Minta had planned.**

**“Something to hide your white skin and dark hair.We don’t want anyone to notice you, or we won’t be able to get you home,” Minta explained.**

**_A disguise . . . ._ He pondered the idea for a moment as images of black leather boots and a dark cloak swirled through his mind? Then it was gone.Minta handed him the cloth and the now-open jar with a dark paste.“How do I do this?”**

**“Just rub it on your face, arms, neck and anywhere your skin is exposed,” Minta explained.She watched intently as Diego dipped the cloth into the jar and began rubbing the mixture on his cheeks.After he had applied where he thought it was needed, she took the rag from him and covered the places he had missed.Her hand paused slightly when she was working on his neck, enjoying the warmth and closeness of his body.**

**Diego smiled, lightly touching one darkened finger to her arm.“It is interesting.We are the same now.”**

**Minta nodded, returning his smile. When she was finished, she handed him the cap, which, while unusual this time of year, wouldn’t be as noticeable as his dark hair.He put it on, and looked at her expectantly.His now swarthy skin made him look roguish. “Perfect, Diego.You don’t have to wear the cap right now, but as soon as we reach the edge of the woods, you will need to put it back on.You shouldn’t stand out… oh.”She paused, looking him over intently.**

**“What?”**

**“The hair above your lip.”Minta got up and walked a few paces away from him.**

**“It is called a mustache,” he said quickly, feeling the rightness of the recalled word even as he said it.**

**Minta looked at him quizzically for a few seconds before smiling.She was beginning to expect newly remembered words and thoughts to come from her student at any time.Nodding, she continued, “But then again, maybe not.The color of your . . . mustache blends with the dye.If you don’t get too terribly close to anyone, it shouldn’t be noticeable.”**

**“Good.I did not wish to take it off,” Diego said so matter-of-factly that Minta chuckled softly.He helped Minta gather up their picnic supplies and they continued down the path.A light breeze made the leaves rustle and cooled the pair as they walked.Diego noticed that this path was not as well groomed as the one before.They had to walk more carefully, paying closer attention to rocks, roots and debris. But for some reason it made him feel more comfortable.It didn’t make him feel less tired, though.Despite the rest during lunch, Diego still felt tired and wished he could take at least a short _siesta,_ but he knew that they must get to this ‘service center’ as quickly as possible, though, so he said nothing.As the sun began slipping toward the horizon, the path ended.**

**“Put your cap on,” Minta told him, and after he had followed her direction, walked out onto a wide expanse that seemed to be covered with flat gray rock, much like in the picture of the commuter that Minta had shown him.A building sat across from the flat rock, with people coming and going in and out of it.“This is one of the entrances of the park.Just follow my lead and don’t say anything unless someone says something to you.We are going to get a commuter for hire to take us to a terminal.It will be a short trip, but the terminal will be much larger and busier, so you must do just exactly what I tell you to do.”**

**Diego pondered Minta’s words, trying to understand.This place already seemed incredibly busy.**

**Seeing his look of bewilderment, Minta added, “Everything will be all right, though.”Diego nodded, even though he wasn’t entirely sure he could imagine what was coming next.**

**Some commuters drove into the large space in front of the building, while others drove out.One of the vehicles made a whirring noise, along with other sounds that he could not recognize.Heat seemed to reflect from the dark stone area in front of them, making the sweat stand out on his forehead.Not knowing if the disguise could be wiped away, Diego resisted the temptation to wipe his brow.**

**Everything was so confusing after living in the confines of a hospital room, but this was the way that Minta said she was going to get him back to the home of his dreams, so he would do whatever it took to get there.With a resolution borne of desire, he followed Minta across the flat rock and into the building.**  
  
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[**Chapter Eight**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories8.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	9. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Eight**

**Feeling nowhere near as calm as he looked, Diego walked next to Minta as they approached the building.She waved at one of the commuters coming in their direction and it stopped right in front of them.Opening the door, Minta motioned and said, “Go ahead, Diego, get in.”He hesitated, then slid into the seat, his companion right behind him.Giving instructions to the driver, she leaned back against the seat and laid her hand on his arm, smiling.At her touch, his tension eased.He returned the smile and looked out of the window at the countryside whizzing past them.The commuter seemed to be moving at an incredible speed to him, but Minta’s serene presence continued to calm him.**

**Within a very short time, a peaceful languor stole over Diego, a distinct contrast to the continuous activity of the morning.He laid his head back against the seat and let the humming of the machine and it’s smooth, gliding action further lull him.His eyelids began closing of their own volition.It seemed only a moment before Minta shook him awake.“Diego,” she said softly, “We’re at the transfer terminal.”**

**He blinked sleepily and gazed out of the window of the commuter.The sun sat blood red on the horizon, bathing everything in a rosy blush, evidence that he had slept for several hours.He stepped out of the vehicle, stretched and looked around, gaping in awe at the vast height and number of the building surrounding him.Minta gave the driver something, and without giving Diego time to take in his surrounding, motioned him toward a large, glass door.**

**Diego walked close by Minta’s side as they entered the large building.People were everywhere.They were crowded together so tightly that he wondered how they managed to get from one place to another.Some of the people talked together, while other voices seemed to come from the air above him.Innumerable footsteps echoed on the hard floor.Everything combined to create an almost mind numbing cacophony of sound.People’s eyes seemed focused on destinations that he could not see; they seemed to look at each other without seeing anything.And there were no children. _Children?_**

**Minta grabbed his arm and pulled him close to her.“Diego, look as though you know what’s going on.”**

**He felt closed in. Even though he tried to focus on Minta and the feel of her body next to his, he saw in his mind a dusty square under a steel blue sky.In this other place, which he knew now was his real home, there were people everywhere too, but it was not so crowded, and they were laughing and joking, looking at things spread on blankets on the ground or hanging from little wooden stalls.Pungent smells drifted through the air-- tamales, tortillas, beef and chilies in small stew pots, pumpkin soups with corn and squash, spicy with peppers. _Tortillas?_ The names came to his mind as his inner eye pictured the foods in front of him.Smoke rose from small, hot fires in pits or braziers.Newly woven blankets hung from poles alongside strings of dried onions, garlic and peppers.Nearby a baby lay in a basket happily sucking on its toes, its mother next to it, weaving a basket.A toothless old woman smiled happily as she ground cacao for champurrado. She sang a lullaby, lisping softly.Diego wished he could understand it all, the song sounded so familiar.The whole scene felt comfortable and reassuring.**

**“Diego,” Minta hissed, tugging at his arm and pulling him along.“Stay with me, please!”**

**His vision vanished along with any feeling of well-being.The present crowd seemed more frenetic than the other one, their movements too rushed.Someone bumped into him.“I’m sorry,” the person said politely, vanishing before Diego could say anything in return.He watched as Minta discussed something with an older man seated at a small table in front of him.She pulled out a small card, the same one she had used before, and presented it the man.He then rubbed the card over a light and handed it back to her.As Minta put the card in her carryall, a tiny slip of paper popped out of a slot in the table.Smiling, the man gave it to her, along with a tiny device, that she put in her pocket.She smiled back, thanking him and turned to Diego.“We have our commuter.Let’s go,” she said.**

**They walked to an area lined with commuters and continued down the row until they found a certain one. Minta pulled out and clicked the tiny object she had been given and the doors of the commuter popped open.She motioned him to get in and then sat down beside him.Soon she was pulling out of the congested area.Diego watched as buildings, people and other commuters seemed to zip past as they sped down the wide road, the commuter’s lights, like glowing eyes, bright in the increasing darkness.Soon, the lights of buildings and commuters diminished and the world seemed enveloped in darkness with only intermittent lights showing in the distance.Diego relaxed.He felt the land rise sharply, and he had to swallow periodically to get rid of the popping sensation in his ears.**

**As they sped along they alternately talked and listened to what Minta called a broadcaster, from which music played.At times he found himself dozing off and he finally rolled up the jacket to make a pillow.Once he woke up to find that Minta had stopped the commuter by the side of the road and was doing the same thing.In the dark, he could not see her, but he was comforted to hear her soft breathing next to him.Reaching over to lightly touch her arm, he then fell back to sleep himself.Sometime afterward, Diego felt her head resting against his shoulder.This pleased him greatly.**

**The next morning, Minta stopped the commuter near a small building.Taking a thin cord from the front of the vehicle, she attached it to a pole in front of the commuter. At Diego’s puzzled look, she merely said, “Electricity.” He got out of the commuter, stretched, and saw just how much the land had changed.Rocky hills lined the road, the air was fresher and moister, and the trees looked more wind-blown.**

**“Let’s go in and have breakfast, Diego,” Minta suggested. He nodded and followed.There was a cool tang in the air, marked by the wispy clouds of their breath.When they sat down at a table in the building to eat a quick breakfast, the little food packets in her carryall amazed him.The food stayed warm or cool depending on what was inside, he supposed.As soon as she opened the packet with the breakfast rolls, they got very warm, steam hitting him in the face as he reached in for one.Minta chuckled and tried to explain the mechanics of the devices, but he wasn’t sure he understood.“I don’t believe I totally understand it, either,” she finally said. He washed his face and hands in a nearby men’s bathroom that she pointed out to him, once she had assured him that the disguise wouldn’t be affected by plain soap and water.**

**Minta did the same, also changing into other clothing she had brought along to wear.Diego stared, unable to take his eyes off of her graceful, willowy form.The outfit was one piece and form fitting, covering her body, but showing every curve and detail of her figure.The light blue color seemed to match that of the sky he saw in his dreams and waking visions and it accentuated the darkness of her exposed skin as well as her amethyst eyes.Diego gaped as they walked to the commuter.He had always been attracted by Minta’s beauty, inner as well as outer, but this outfit awoke desires that had little to do with simple admiration.He felt his cheeks warm as they walked toward the commuter, and he pushed his desires aside for the moment.**

**When they started out again, he gazed at the rolling hills as they became rockier and more barren.Their route continued to take them into mountainous heights.So much of it seemed familiar to him and yet there was still an unfamiliarity that nagged at him.“Are we getting closer to my home?” he asked hesitantly after some time had passed.Before Minta could answer, he continued, “But I suppose that could not be possible.How would the sun in the sky change from red to yellow?The ground can change, but not the sky.”**

**“Diego, this is just the first part of the journey.It is a long way to your home.But we’ll get there, I promise you.”**

**“You said it would not take that long,” he reminded her, puzzled by the comment that seemed to contradict her earlier ones.**

**“That’s true, but mainly because it will be a very fast commuter that will take us to your home,” she explained.**

**Diego felt a thrill at her confirmation that she would be returning home with him.“Oh.What will it look like, this commuter?” he asked, curious.**

**“Very large, where many people can live for long periods of time.”**

**Diego pondered the idea of a commuter so large that many people could live inside it and felt a tinge of fear.Then in his mind he saw a vessel skimming across the water, huge white sheets of cloth stretched upward like the wings of the fat water birds.At times it almost bounced on the waves of water, sending spray in huge plumes on each side. As he stood on the deck of the ship looking over the railing, the spray pelted him, soaking the front of his shirt.He licked the salty droplets from his lips and felt the cooling breezes tug at his sleeves.Watching the seabirds laughing above him, Diego chuckled with them.Then the pleasant images disappeared as the commuter slowed down and left the smooth roadway.He looked up in surprise.**

**“I thought that this would be a nice place to stop and eat lunch,” Minta said cheerfully at his questioning look. “And this has been a very long drive.I need to stretch my legs.”**

**“You have more food?” he asked gazing at her carryall in wonder.“I thought that we had finished all the food at our morning meal.”**

**Minta laughed her merry laugh.“Yes, I prepared enough to hold us until we get to the large commuter.This is the last of the food, though.We will be getting to the next commuter, the one that will take us to your home, this evening, if all goes well.” They walked a short distance away from the commuter to a small meadow where the moss grew thick and spongy.Insects buzzed among the tiny flowers of swirled blue and yellow, and various birds chirped, whistled and sang in the nearby bushes and trees.The soft breeze carried the sharp scent of the flowers.**

**Minta laid out the various foods, pulling them out of their sealed containers, the aroma of the bread vying with the cheese-like chunks.She poured a cup of zrelis tea from a portable heating unit and handed it to her protégé, its steam rising gracefully toward the lavender sky, broken only by the slight eddying of breezes that played in the top branches of the shrubs.Despite the jacket she was wearing, Minta felt chilled, and she held her teacup close to her face.At first, she was surprised when Diego placed his jacket across her shoulders, and yet, when she thought about it, she wasn’t surprised at all.This was just another manifestation of the real person under the suppressed memories.**

**“You came unprepared.You need this,” he said with a smile.**

**“I couldn’t very well come with packed bags, could I?” she asked, chuckling.She wished she could have packed a change of clothes for Diego, but that was an impossibility, since all clothing for units was issued at the hospital, and an extra set of clothes wouldn’t have fit in the bag anyway.**

**He laughed along with her.“You did very well with what you brought.”They sat drinking their tea for several minutes.Then Diego broke off some of the pungent smelling cheese and nibbled on it, continuing to gaze at the scenery around him.“In some ways, this is like the other place, wild and empty.”**

**“Not totally empty.There are a great many wild creatures living here.This is a protected wilderness area,” Minta said.She saw the evidence of this year’s dry spell.While the flowers that sprinkled the moss were still bright and fragrant, those on the trees were already wilting.Even some of the patches of moss were browning from lack of moisture.The drought had been harsher than in years past.“Here, have some crila bread, it goes well with the cheese,” she added, tearing off a large piece of the end of the loaf and handing it to him.**

**“I meant empty of people…” Diego said and then stopped, looking toward a stand of brush between them and the commuter.**

**“What is it, Diego?” Minta asked, catching his tension.**

**“Sh!” he admonished, quietly laying down his cup and the bread and cheese without taking his eyes off the brush.Quickly he glanced around, saw the knife with which she had cut the cheese, and grabbed it.Diego got up slowly, facing the brush, his body in a slight crouch.He stopped and listened again.Minta wanted to ask questions, stand by his side, but she didn’t.Diego seemed to know what to do.In the sudden quiet, she heard a sound, a soft huffing cough, and almost silent footfalls.She continued watching as Diego stayed crouched, listening, watching, at the ready for whatever hid behind the brush.“Minta, get up slowly and walk back to the commuter,” he told her softly, in an even voice.“Do not take time to gather anything.”Glancing back, he saw her hesitate.“Now, Minta.Do it now!” he hissed, his voice still low, but urgent.**

**Deliberately, slowly, she did as she was told, only taking her carryall, which had been by her side.As she walked toward the commuter, she kept glancing behind her.The huffing sound, which she finally recognized as that of a brisal, came to her ears, almost causing her heart to stop.Diego was also slowly making his way toward her, his eyes never leaving the source of the sound, his feet seeming to know exactly where to step as he made his way backward toward the commuter.The knife was held in front of him, but Minta thought it a wretchedly puny weapon against the speed and strength of the brisal.Suddenly with a crackling of brush, the animal leaped into the clearing.Its ribs could be counted; it was so thin, making the reason for its boldness all too apparent.Its tufted ears swiveled, trying to catch the sounds of their breathing.Its reddish-orange eyes seemed slightly unfocussed, an additional indication of malnourishment.The head on the long, almost sinuous neck moved from side to side as though deciding which of them would be the easiest to attack.**

**Minta had heard of brisal attacks before, but they were so rare she never dreamed that stopping here would invite one.Standing by the commuter, breathing raggedly, she clenched and unclenched her hands in fear and apprehension for Diego.Very, very slowly, he eased his way toward her, stepping over a broken branch from a spider limb tree.Minta saw him glance down at it.**

**As Diego continued to move backward, the brisal stalked forward, making its huffing growl.Its eyes had glued themselves to him.Then with a whine, it sprang, its long thin legs were still filled with great power, and its claws were extended.But Diego had not been idle.As soon as the animal had crouched slightly for attack, he had grabbed the limb with one hand and Minta’s picnic blanket with the other.The cloth made a graceful arc in the air, landing squarely on the brisal, covering its head and turning the deliberate charge to a blind one.**

**Using the limb, Diego knocked the animal off its feet, further tangling it in the cloth.Its huffing rose to frustrated screams as it tried to extricate itself.As soon as he saw that the cat was incapacitated, Diego dropped the limb and sprinted to the commuter, where he motioned her in.“You should have already been inside,” he chided her, panting from the exertion, frowning at her carryall.**

**“I was worried for you, Diego.A brisal is so very dangerous, especially one that is starving.And before you chide me for bringing the carryall, I had to have the access key for the commuter.”**

**“Well, this one will get a bit to eat,” he said with a slight smile, looking at the food laying scattered around their picnic area.“If he still wants it after he escapes.”They watched the animal tear and claw at the cloth; then Minta started the commuter and drove back onto the road.**  
  
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[**Chapter Nine**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories8.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	10. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Nine**

**“Director!!She has kidnapped the Designated One!That teacher unit that you had so much confidence in has stolen the alien!!”**

**“Peace, Gerol.I am fully aware of what Minta has done with the Designated One,” Jerintas told his assistant, motioning for him to sit down.**

**“And you are allowing it?Why haven’t you had the power cut from her commuter so we can bring them both back?Why didn’t you block her from leasing one?”**

**“Yes, I am allowing it,” Jerintas said and then paused, considering what he wanted to say next.“Gerol, you have been very loyal.You had done everything I have asked, quickly, thoroughly and without question.”The director paused, smiling at his assistant sitting across the desk from him.“At least most of the time you have not questioned my motives.”He watched Gerol relax a bit before he continued.“I reread all of the Ancestors’ directives and guidelines last night.Looking at the access logs, I found that Minta did the same thing well over a week ago.She realized what I should have understood when we started this venture.It is wrong to take a being from another world against its will.Wrong to take its life away and force it into servitude, which basically is what would have happened to the Designated One.”Jerintas gazed into Gerol’s face and finally saw a measure of understanding.**

**“It is hard being the director over a planet.It is even harder trying to follow the directives of the Ancestors, knowing that they never intended for their creations, our fellow units, to end up being servants to races all over the galaxy.For years we have allowed this to happen.We have endured the patronizing and arrogant attitudes of members of the Merchants’ Federation.And for what reason? So that we could develop a race that could biologically procreate without any of the other members of the federation knowing what we were doing.The horrible irony of all this, Gerol, is that they have known for over two hundred years that no matter what we did, it would be an impossibility!”Jerintas leaned back, letting himself calm down.**

**Gerol’s face registered intense shock.“What do you mean, Director?” he asked.**

**Please read these latest reports,” Jerintas said, handing a small sheaf of papers to Gerol.He sat patiently as the scientist skimmed through the reports with their diagrams and figures and findings.When Gerol looked up in surprise, he nodded, returning to answer Gerol’s original complaint.“Yes, I am allowing the Designated One’s escape.And I am allowing Minta to be the instrument of that escape.It just seemed simpler to let Minta do it than to arrange it myself.He trusts her.He could not stay here, Gerol.That is evident from the results of the recent blood work.”**

**“When did you discover this, Director?” Gerol asked, his voice soft and filled with disappointment.**

**“About the time of your last visit.”**

**“But the promise of this unit…”**

**“We have a great deal of what we need from the research we have done already, and I believe we now have the means to make our race a viable one.We also have the added bonus of finding out what our so-called federation friends have known for two centuries.I now know what caused the demise of the Ancestors as well.I have been looking at all the old records, seeing what happened near that time and I find striking similarities between their illness and the Designated One’s test results.”He paused yet again, studying Gerol’s face.The scientist showed dawning understanding.**

**“I have found that this alien is going to help us in more ways than one,” Jerintas explained.He paused, looking out of the large window at the lowering sun, the large red orb that hid a deadly companion.“Gerol, about the time of the Ancestor’s sickness a celestial body appeared in our solar system.It was small but was attracted by our sun and was caught in a tight orbit around it.”**

**“You mean the Late Comer?” Gerol asked, puzzled by the direction of the directors conversation.**

**“Yes, Gerol.I have also looked up some emission studies on the Late Comer.The researchers found a type of radiation different from that of the sun.I believe this radiation killed the Ancestors.And it is what is affecting the Designated One.For some reason it doesn’t effect us,” Jerintas continued, “except in matters of biological procreation.”He paused again to let Gerol internalize the all of the information. “I have ordered further research in this matter. You see why the Designated One has to leave? We can not take the risk of causing him more harm than we already did.” **

**“But will he be able to recover from the radiation?” Gerol asked, concern evident in his voice.**

**“Yes, I believe so.He has been here for only six weeks.I am sending my results to the doctor on board the ship that Minta and the Designated One will be leaving in.He will be in contact with me.”**

**There was a long pause.Neither man spoke for a time.Then Jerintas said, “We did something that was not right, Gerol.Actually, I did.I am the one in charge.I should have stopped this action before we ever left the Designated One’s planet.I caused hurt; I caused pain.It is no matter that this was an individual from a primitive society, a backward planet.It was still wrong.”Gerol said nothing, but the look on the assistant’s face told Jerintas that his point had been made.**

**“But his planet is not visited except occasionally for research.It will be difficult to get someone to make a special trip there.”**

**“It was difficult to arrange, but I have some small means to accomplish my desires.Some of our ‘customers’ owe me.”Jerintas sighed.“I have left instructions for the star cruiser now docked at the space station to accept passage for both of them, and provide for the Designated One’s eventual return to his home planet.”**

**Gerol sighed, “Will it not be awkward when the Designated One returns?”**

**“Perhaps, Gerol, but I have every intention of sending instructions to Minta to help ease that difficult situation.”**

**Gerol sighed again, but nodded his agreement.**

**“Gerol, I want you to gather the sub-directors together as quickly as you can.It is time for everything we have learned to be shared and discussed.It is time to take this mistake and turn it into a victory.But it will take all of Rantir’s leaders.We have to do this together.”**

**============================**

**The commuter traveled along, occasionally going through towns, but mostly passing through wilderness areas.Minta yawned and rubbed her eyes.“If you could show me how, I can drive your commuter while you sleep,” Diego offered, having watched the comparative ease with which she drove it.**

**Laughing, Minta said, “I wish it was that easy.It takes time to learn to drive one of these things and we don’t have a great deal of time right now.And besides, you also have to have a certificate showing that you know how to drive a commuter.”**

**“Certificate?” Diego asked.He remembered his dreams of driving a coche.“It can’t be that hard…is it?”**

**“Diego, driving a machine like this is much more difficult than driving a coche pulled by an animal.It only looks simple because I am used to it.”**

**“Oh, I am sorry.You just looked so tired.I thought I could help.”**

**“I am tired, but it isn’t that much further, and then I don’t have to worry about it.We’ll be on the large commuter and someone else will be driving,” she said with a laugh.He nodded his understanding.**

**As they rode along, Diego periodically talked to Minta, or gazed at the passing scenery while listening to the broadcaster.Often his gaze drifted from outside the window of the commuter to the woman at his side.That she was risking her comfortable life on this world, he was just now beginning to realize.Diego felt grateful to Minta, but he felt something else, some feeling that he could not even internalize into words.He wanted to hold her as he did the night before, feel the warmth of her body next to his.Sometimes he would just doze and then he would dream of her riding with him under the bright yellow sun of his home.**

**On occasion, when she couldn’t take sitting any longer, Minta pulled off the road to stretch and walk around, making sure that they were not near any forests or other areas where a wild animal such as a brisal could hide and possibly attack them.Regardless, Diego stayed close to her, the knife stuck in his belt.When she questioned him about his actions with the brisal, Diego just shrugged.He had very little to say about it, although Minta felt it was an incredibly brave thing to do.Finally, after several attempts to get him to talk about it failed, she asked, “Diego, do you remember what you did back at your home?”**

**“No, I really don’t, Minta, at least not much.I have tried to remember, but the memories do not come when I wish them to.They only come when they are ready to come, and only in small . . .parts,” he tried to explain.“I wish I could just want it and the thoughts of my home could come.”He then described the sight that his mind had presented him in the commuter station, trying to make it as vivid for her as it had been for him, despite his struggle sometimes to find the right words.At times he had to use the words that came into him during his ‘mental scenes.’**

**“Diego, I don’t know all the terms you used, but you painted a wonderful picture for me.I could almost taste the ‘tortillas.’I hope I get to see that when we get you back to your home.”**

**“I hope you do, too, Minta.I would really like you to see my home.I would like to see it as well.Perhaps the sight of my real home will bring back the rest of my memories.”**

**“I’m sure it will,” Minta reassured him, hoping it was true.**

**He then described the ship that he had seen sailing across the sea.“I felt as though I was flying with the ship,” he said with a sigh.He looked out the window at the clouds gathering on the darkening horizon.In the far distance he saw only the flat desolation of this rugged plateau.**

**Minta saw his look.“We really are coming near the end of this journey,” she told him.“I would estimate another four hours or so.You should be able to see the lights of the spaceport well before we get there.”**

**“You mean the place where the commuter will be that will take us to my home?” he asked, excitement clearly evident in his voice.**

**“Yes,” she said with a laugh.“And I am eager to be rid of this thing,” she added, patting the steering wheel of the commuter.“This has been a long trip."**

**The sun slid behind the mountains as they drove the last distance to the spaceport.Knowing how very close they were made the last few hours interminable.Minta was suddenly nervous.Would she have enough credit in her account for passage on a ship, at least for Diego?And if she couldn’t go with him, would he be willing to go alone?What would he think of space travel?Had she kept too much from him?They hadn’t been stopped, even though she had taken a slower method of travel.Would someone be waiting for them at the spaceport to take them back?She tried to shut the doubts and fears out of her mind.This had to work.**

**Finally they saw the lights of the spaceport, and shortly thereafter they arrived.Diego peered out the window, eager to catch a glimpse of the commuter that would take him home.There were several large orbital shuttles, indicating at least one or two large passenger spacecraft in orbit.All of the shuttles were sitting in relative darkness, with only a minimum of lighting, indicating to her that they were in final disembarkation sequence, or they were waiting for loading the next day.She hoped at least one was for the first reason.**

**Leaving the commuter in an underground parking area, she and Diego made their way to the ticketing booth.The unit sitting there was dozing.“Excuse me,” Minta said softly.The receptionist started in surprise, then looked embarrassed at being discovered sleeping.“We need to buy tickets to travel to the…” Minta took out the reference paper on which she had copied interstellar figures, “…L4 Quadrant."**

**“You are in luck,” the receptionist said.“There is a ship that was delayed.It’s headed in that direction, and will be lifting off within the next quarter hour.”**

**A bit of unease crept up Minta’s spine.Surely the reason for the delay didn’t have anything to do with them.“Do you know why it was delayed?” she asked.**

**“I have no idea.No one saw fit to tell me any anything about it,” the unit informed them with a slight frown.Then she brightened, “If you don’t have any luggage, you might be able to make it.”When Minta shook her head, the receptionist spoke into a communicator.She then looked up with a smile and nodded.“You are definitely in luck. They will wait for you if you hurry.The next ship traveling to that quadrant won’t leave for another week,” the unit told her.“Your identification?”**

**Minta removed her ident papers from her carryall, along with the unit identification papers that she had pulled up for Diego.She hoped that the added information she had typed in, that giving her the right to accompany this specially created unit to his new home in the L4 Quadrant, would not be questioned.Giving additional information almost breathlessly, Minta was elated at the good fortune they were experiencing up to this point.She handed over her credit vouchers and then held her breath, hoping that she had enough.The woman made a notation and handed a few of them back to her.“Very good.If you will go out that door to the docking bay straight ahead, there will be a crewmember there to help you board.But hurry,” she said, pointing.**

**Nodding her thanks, she took Diego’s hand and sped out the door.Small lights illuminated the causeway leading to the ship, which sat a short distance away, its engines whining slightly in pre-takeoff mode.When they were halfway to the shuttle, the loading ramp descended, bathing the causeway in sudden and intensely bright reddish light.The interior lights caused her to blink in surprise, but it was Diego’s sudden stop that almost threw her off balance.She turned to him in alarm.His eyes were wide and bright with shock.His hand clenched painfully around her fingers until she finally had to pull free.**

**“Madre de Dios, _”_ he said once, then again, louder.He continued to stand stone still, his gaze transfixed on the ship.A figure descended down the ramp.**

**“Diego, we need to go.Please, it’s just like an oversized commuter.”**

**Diego saw in his mind another night, lights like these shining blindingly during his kidnapping.He relived the capture, the numerous dark hosts grabbing at him, holding him down, tying him up, and carrying him inside a starkly bright pit that felt like the bowels of Hell.He felt the hands holding him in their vise-like grip; it was as real now as when it happened the first time.He heard again the whining and chattering of demonic utterances greeting him and welcoming him to their domain.The faces looked at him in triumph, their victory complete.The clanging of metal against metal, the steam, the fire and the smoke were like the laughter of their hellish joy.He saw it and saw it again.He smelled the fumes like those experienced by hell-bound tormented souls.It beat on his senses, and in his mind.He felt the fear, the despair of not being able to help himself, to escape, to fight back.He felt the endless torment, pain and mental anguish that repeated escape attempts and failures had wrought upon him.**

**“Diego!” Minta shouted at him, fearful of the display of emotions on his face.Except for the murmuring whisper of his voice repeating something in his native language, and the tenseness of his muscles, he could have been a statue.Gently she took his hand.It was clenched into a fist, steel-hard.“Diego!It’s just a large commuter.It will take you home.I will be with you!”**

**Suddenly, Diego looked down at her, his face filled with the bitterness of the discovery of duplicity.“It was your people.They did this to me.They took me from my home, took me prisoner, held me in Hell.They took away my memories, made me helpless.What was the reason for this, Minta?Why?”His words were like projectiles; full of recrimination and Minta realized that Diego was remembering his abduction.She could only imagine how intensely terrifying it must have been to someone who hadn’t even experienced an industrial age yet.**

**“We really need to go, or we’re going to lose our window of opportunity,” a voice said from behind her.“A bit of fear of flying?”Without looking, Minta knew that the voice belonged to one of the ship’s crewmembers, but she ignored it, concentrating only on Diego.**

**Diego saw the newcomer clearly for the first time, and while this was not one of the people of his vision, he began to pull away, fearful of the hulking entity, fearful of being dragged back into the torment of his previous hell.“Diego, this commuter will take you home.I promise.You have to trust me!Please trust me!” Minta cried, trying to get through his shock and fear.**

**Diego heard her words and stopped backing up, looking carefully into Minta’s eyes.‘ _Do you trust me?’_ she had once asked him.Yes, he did.Had she ever done or said anything that would cause him harm?That even caused hurt feelings?No, she hadn’t.He began to relax slightly.“I trust you, Minta,” he whispered, his eyes on the newcomer and the ship behind him.He felt the touch of her fingertips and slowly unclenched his fist.Minta took his hand and held it close to her, cradling it against her body.**

**“We really do need to hurry,” the crewman said.He seemed anxious.Diego nodded, but still couldn’t make himself move forward.With a sigh, the stranger from the ship reached around Minta and put his hand on Diego’s shoulder.Diego suddenly felt a sting like that of an insect and then felt blackness descending in his mind.He remembered the one who had stuck him with a needle.“No!” he screamed. _Not the blankness and unknowing again. Dios!_ He felt bitterness returning as the darkness overcame him.**

**“I’m sorry, Miss, but we do have to hurry.The ship has waited as long as it can.It has to take off in the next few minutes or we will be stuck her until tomorrow and be hopelessly off schedule.”The alien, blue-furred and heavily muscled, easily reached down and picked up the unconscious form on the pavement at their feet.He just as easily carried him on board, with Minta following behind meekly, tears coursing down her cheeks.**  
  
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**[Chapter Ten](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories10.htm) **  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	11. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Ten**

**Diego sat in the sala, his empty wine glass in one hand and a newly lit cigar in the other.He listened while Sgt. Garcia told them yet another story of the insufferable pest, El Diablo.The man was living up to his name.Even though Zorro had captured or killed at least a dozen of his followers, the robber king seemed to have an uncanny ability to gather more minions around him.The man was as hard to catch and hang onto as a fighting rooster.Always he seemed to be one step ahead, or like a badger, possessing an escape route that no one dreamed existed.**

**Now El Diablo was trying to convince everyone that Zorro was a demon in disguise.Apparently the robber felt the same way about Zorro as Diego felt about this Diablo.“Sergeant, if Zorro has been transformed into a demon, or replaced by one, why is he unable to catch El Diablo…unless the self-proclaimed ‘Prince of Thieves’ is really the Prince of Darkness?”**

**Garcia blinked and gazed at him in surprise.“But that would put them on the same side, would it not, Don Diego?”**

**“Very astute, Sergeant, and you wisely pointed out the flaw in El Diablo’s logic,” Diego said with a smile, saluting the corpulent soldier with a nod of his head.**

**“Father Felipe has generously offered to test Zorro and anoint him with Holy Water,” Garcia added.**

**“Sergeant, why should Zorro do that?I thought that Father Felipe had already tested the outlaw.”**

**“That is true, but the good padre wants to lay all these rumors to rest.”**

**“Perhaps Zorro will take him up on it someday, then,” Diego said nonchalantly, and added,“Have some more wine, Sergeant.”Bernardo brought over a flagon and poured about half a glass full.**

**Later in the secret room, Diego fumed.“The man is insufferable!”**

**Bernardo signed, ‘Sergeant Garcia?’**

**“No, Bernardo, El Diablo.There has to be a way to find him and stop him somehow.This has gone on too long.”**

**Bernardo nodded his agreement and then seemed to be pondering as he handed the pieces of the costume to his master.Diego suddenly stopped dressing, gazing at the manservant, his feelings for his friendship and loyalty suddenly superseded by wonder at the relationship they shared-- the relationship that the real Diego had started, that he had only inherited.As he wondered what his counterpart was doing, Diego suddenly felt sorry for the Designated One.To have had all this, the friendships, the parental affiliations, the feeling of belonging to a world, of being part of a whole, of doing something so very worthwhile, and then to have it all wiped away.He felt a stab of pain.Then he remembered the directive he had been given and the pain was increased, knowing that there would be even more heartache in the future.**

**He felt a tap on his shoulder, Bernardo looked at him quizzically, signing a question.**

**“I feel all right, Bernardo.I was just wondering how I was going to rid this part of the world of El Diablo.”**

**Bernardo signed a suggestion, ‘I will listen more carefully in the pueblo.’**

**“Perhaps that might give us some clues that we missed before.Thank you,” Diego said as he donned the mask.“Yes, tomorrow.”**

**He swept down the stairs, and Bernardo followed, wondering at the incredible sadness that seemed to have suddenly overtaken his master.**

**========================**

**Minta sat by Diego’s bed with his hand in hers, his sleeping form under her strictest scrutiny.She let her thumb massage his palm gently almost without conscious thought.A lock of unruly hair had fallen over his pale forehead and she leaned over to push it aside, noting how much more natural he looked now.Earlier in the day, she had helped a medical technician remove the disguising gel.**

**Minta didn’t remember the shuttle’s take-off; she had been so stricken with the look of total despair on Diego’s face as the drug took effect.Now they were on the mother craft, a large passenger pleasure ship headed for the outer quadrant of the galaxy, specifically the planet, Morloze, a comparative neighbor, in the larger scheme of things, to Diego’s planet.From there, Minta had been assured they would be able to get a smaller interstellar craft to take them to Diego’s world.**

**She yawned and looked at the chronometer set into the opposite wall and saw that it was the ship’s equivalent of late afternoon on Rantir.A soft chime sounded, indicating someone at the door of Diego’s room in the infirmary.Reaching over, Minta keyed the response switch,“Yes?”**

**“Mistress, may I come in?I am Klictis, the ship’s doctor.”**

**“Yes, you may,” she answered.The door whooshed open and admitted an alien who looked a little like a bundle of sticks and twigs glued together.His mandibles clacked and chittered together, but a little box on a cord around his neck provided translation.**

**“He is still sleeping,” the doctor said softly, almost to himself.“We left orbit last night.”**

**“Yes, he has only partially awakened a few times since the take off, never enough to be coherent.I was wondering how long that drug the crewman gave him was supposed to stay in his system,” Minta answered.“I…I’m worried about him.”**

**“You have need to be.The sedative was only supposed to last through the take off and docking with this craft, at the most four or five hours. It has been more than half a ship cycle.”The doctor pulled out several instruments, using them to examine Diego.With one he took a blood sample, causing her companion to moan softly, talking in his native language.Minta continued to hold his hand, stroking it gently.The doctor took the sample over to a nearby workstation.Within a short time he had returned to the bedside. “Tell me, did your friend seem overly tired during the last two weeks?” he asked.**

**“Yes, I guess he did seem more tired during the trip, but I attributed it to the stress and extra exertion of the journey itself.He seemed more bored than anything else during the week before we left the hospital.”She wondered what the doctor had found out.Fear for Diego sat like a boulder in her chest, threatening to choke her.**

**More clacking brought her attention back to the doctor.“His appetite?” he asked.**

**She thought.“I guess he really hadn’t eaten much before we reached the spaceport.We were attacked by a brisal and Diego left his lunch to it.”She paused and thought once again.Diego had really not seemed interested in eating during their trip to the spaceport. Indeed, he hadn’t eaten much during the preceding few days.“No, he really didn’t seem to have his usual appetite even before our trip to the spaceport, come to think about it.”**

**The doctor nodded.“While I was running the tests, I received a communication from your home planet, directly from Director Jerintas.”**

**Sudden panic clawed at her, making her catch her breath.After successfully finding a flight and getting on their way, was the director going to force Diego to return?“What did he say?” she asked.**

**“He expressed concern that there was something inherent in your solar system that would cause illness to your companion.Director Jerintas sent me his findings based on blood samples taken from him while on your planet.”**

**Shock left her gaping, speechless.“Illness?” she finally squeaked.Had the director known everything she had been doing since she met Diego?Was that why their escape seemed so easy?Had he realized that kidnapping Diego was wrong?Or was it the illness? _Oh, Diego, what more will you be asked to suffer?_ she thought, reaching over and touching his stubbled cheek, stroking lightly.She could not even begin to conceive of Diego dying.Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.**

**“It is nothing life threatening if caught in early enough stages,” the alien doctor explained, as he examined the readings on a diagnostic tool.“And my findings match those of your director.Your friend is anemic.”**

**“What?”She reached for Diego’s hand, took it in her own, feeling the reassuring warmth.**

**A slight change in the sound of his mandibles seemed to indicate laughter.“Your director suggested, and I concur, that some sort of radiation effected your companion.He also suggested that this might be linked somehow to the demise of your creators.Your companion, although different on the outside, seems to possess many genetic materials that match not only the Rantiri units, but even more so, your creators.It is a most curious phenomenon.”**

**Minta nodded, still overwhelmed with relief.“What can we do to help him get over this?He will recover fully, won’t he?”**

**“Yes.My preliminary findings show that there is no irreversible damage.I think he should stay in the medical quarters for a day or two after he has awakened.We will give him supplements to build his blood and when he is feeling better, we will run more tests.Within a few days he should be feeling better . . .more energetic.”**

**“Thank you for helping, Dr. Klictis,” she said to him. _And thank you, Jerintas, for understanding,_ she thought fervently.**

**=========================**

**Diego felt a vibration, not unlike that of a commuter, heard the whirring and clicking of various devices and slightly opened one eye to see a room like the hospital room where he had met Minta.But it was bigger, like one of the rooms where his kidnappers had held him.**

**Diego remembered the spaceport, and the gaping door on the commuter like the jaws of Hell.He remembered the strange looking man coming toward him and then sticking him in the arm, as did the man who made him to forget everything he had ever known.He remembered and then paused, his eyes opening wide.He remembered!This time they had not stolen his memories!Everything he had learned and remembered was all still there.With a slight smile, he sat up straighter against his pillows and looked around him.Where was Minta?The feel of her hand enveloping his was still fresh in his mind and the memory of it gave him a thrill of great pleasure.He wanted her near him to celebrate this triumph.**

**A soft whooshing sound heralded the opening of a door and Diego looked toward it in anticipation.His eagerness was short lived however.Approaching him was a skeletal, insect-like man, the legs and arms mere twigs, the head oval, but covered with a hard carapace.The eyes were faceted like rubies, blood red and round, the mouth was two pincer-like protuberances that opened and closed with clacking, clicking noises.There were fingers on the end of each stick arm, but they seem to simply be thinner extensions of the arms.The body was also encased in a hard shell, the belly a soft lavender color and the shoulders, arms and legs the color of warm honey.**

**“ _Dios_!” Diego exclaimed, sliding out of the bed and backing away from the monstrous apparition. _Commuter?_ he thought. _No, this must be Hell, indeed!And where is Minta?Is she a prisoner here?_**

**The creature moved its mouth pincers back and forth furiously and Diego began wondering if he had been saved for lunch.There was a little box hanging around the demon’s neck and sounds were coming from it.**

**“I am Doctor Klictus.I am here to care for you.I will not hurt you, Diego,” the ghostly voice said.**

**Diego stared at the talking box and then back into the face of the demonic-looking being.What kind of creature could be imprisoned in such a tiny receptacle, he wondered, staring back at the tiny box.Similar sounds were coming from another little box, this one lying on the table next to his bed. Diego gazed around him, his eyes darting right and left, desperately trying to find something with which to defend himself.Finding nothing, he backed up until he was against a wall and there he waited in a crouch.The demon stopped on the opposite side of his bed, laying its pouch on the covers and stretching its now empty hands out to him. _Is it trying to be friendly_? Diego thought.He waited.There was another soft whooshing noise.**

**“Diego!”It was Minta.She walked up to the stick creature and stood next to it for a moment.“Diego, he is a doctor.He will not hurt you.”She came around the bed and took his hand in the gesture that he had come to recognize as one of reassurance.**

**Straightening up, he looked at her and seeing no sign that she was a prisoner or saying anything against her will, he asked, “Where is this place?It is so much like the place I was taken to before.”He paused.“Like Hell.”A series of clicks and clacking sounds came from the little box on the table, as well as from the box around the creature’s neck.**

**“Hell?” Minta asked, confused by the term.**

**The doctor moved his jaws and the soft voice spoke from the small devices, “Mistress Minta, Hell is a place believed by many to be where those who have acted wickedly go after death.A place of punishment, so to speak.”**

**Minta looked at Diego in awe.“I can never imagine you going to this Hell you speak of.You are too good.”**

**“Thank you, Minta.But you know nothing of my life before we met.You really can’t say that.”**

**She squeezed his hand.“Of course I can.Lack of memories does not hide the personality of a person.”**

**Diego cleared his throat, uncomfortable with her praise, “I would still like to know where we are.Am I a prisoner?”**

**“Oh, no, you aren’t a prisoner,” Minta reassured him.“This is a spaceship that will take us near your home.We’ll get on another ship that will land on your planet.”**

**Diego pondered for a moment.“So when you said we would take a large commuter to my home, you were talking about this . . .this spaceship.”She nodded.He thought some more, and Minta, seeing the look of concentration on his face, said nothing.After a while, she saw his face suddenly go pale.“Spaceship?A ship in space?Land on my planet?” he whispered.“You mean we are in heaven?I know what a ship is, but there are ships that can go out where the moon and stars are?”**

**“Yes, Diego.That is how you got to my home…my world…in a spaceship.It is not exactly like the ship you described to me, though.A ship that sails from star to star has to be encased in metal.There is no air in space.The ship has to have engines to make it move; it can’t use sails like your ships do on the oceans.”**

**The doctor had slowly approached while they were talking.Diego looked him over carefully but didn’t pull away this time.Minta trusted him, so he would, too.The stick-man had been moving his mouth, making his clicking, chittering noises, but Diego had not been listening after the doctor’s explanation of Hell, concentrating instead on what Minta had been saying.Now the soft voice was coming from the box again.Diego gazed at the physician, pondering, knowing there was some kind of connection between the clacking of the doctor’s mouth and the little boxes.His jaw dropped in sudden realization.“Are the voices from the little boxes what the doctor is saying?”**

**“Yes, they are,” the doctor answered.“The little boxes, as you call them, are translators, Diego.They take words from my language and turn them into words you can understand.Now you must lie down, and rest.If you do as I say, you should be able to leave here in a few days.”**

**Gratefully, Diego did as he was told.He was tired; even that small amount of exertion seemed to have drained him.“Jerintas is helping you get home, Diego,” Minta said, as soon as the doctor left.“He arranged passage for us on this ship.”**

**“Jerintas?He is the director that you have talked about?Why is he helping me?”**

**“Yes, he is our planet’s director, and he is helping you because of your illness.If you had stayed on Rantir, you would have died,” Minta explained simply.**

**“Why?” he asked.**

**“Our solar system has a celestial body that we call the Late Comer.About five hundred years ago it came into our solar system and was caught in the gravity of our sun.Our scientists have recently discovered that it has something . . . a radiation that made you sick.As soon as Jerintas found out, he began making plans to get you back to your home,” Minta explained.**

**“I do not understand this ‘radiation.’How could something like this Late Comer make me sick?From what you have said, it sounds like a planet.A planet can make me sick?Or is it a . . .” Diego paused, unable to come up with the word he wanted.Pantomiming the word he was looking for, he watched Minta for recognition.**

**“Oh, you must mean a comet,” she exclaimed.**

**“Yes.Some scientists believe that comets can be dangerous,” Diego offered.**

**“Perhaps it is somewhere in between the two,” she replied.“I don’t really understand all of this.Some of what I am telling you I didn’t even know until Director Jerintas sent the message to Dr. Klictis.”Minta paused, trying to determine the best way to explain the radiation problem to Diego in a way that he could understand.Finally it came to her.“Diego, do you remember the first picnic that we had?”**

**“Yes.”**

**“Your skin was a little red the next day.That is a kind of radiation.It burned your skin a little bit.The radiation that made you sick is something like that, only it works on the inside,” Minta explained.**

**“Oh.”Diego yawned, feeling an overwhelming desire to go back to sleep, but there was something that he needed to know first.“Minta, why did your people take me from my home?”**

**Minta sighed.“Diego, believe me when I say that I had no idea you were anything other than a created unit when I first met you.Like me.”He nodded and she continued.“When Jerintas traveled to your planet, he was searching for ways to let my people . . . have babies,”**

**“Have babies?Do you mean that your people cannot have babies?Is that why there are no children on your planet?” Diego asked, not totally understanding how that could be.**

**“Yes,” Minta replied, pausing to find the words that would help Diego understand DNA and other scientific principles.Sighing again, she went on to explain as simply as she could, hoping that Diego would understand.“Diego, you know about breeding and reproduction.From what you have told me of your dreams, the animals that you ride breed amongst themselves.”**

**“Yes, they do.”**

**“It is what is deep inside each animal, and person, too, that makes them able to reproduce; to create young like themselves.It is called DNA.For many years that is what our scientists thought we needed to reproduce amongst ourselves.Physically, we should be able to, but we have not.So the scientists believed that we had to get DNA from a race that was very close to our Ancestors.”**

**“These Ancestors are the ones that you told me created your people?”**

**“Yes, Diego.They created us.They did not create us to look exactly like them, but we have DNA that is similar.They told us to continue to create more units and to try to make units who could reproduce biologically . . . have babies, in other words.That is why Jerintas went on his scientific expedition, and why he went to your world—to see if there were people who might have the DNA that the Rantiri needed to biologically reproduce.”**

**“So you are saying that I was kidnapped to help your people, to help them so they could have children?” he asked.**

**“Yes,” she answered simply.**

**“I understand what you are saying.I still feel anger that my memories were taken, but if I had not been kidnapped . . .” Diego suddenly paused.He gazed at Minta, his expression affectionate.“I would never have met you.That would be sad . . . to not know you.”**

**Minta blinked back the tears that suddenly blurred her vision.“Oh, Diego.Thank you.You have made my life so much richer.I cannot even conceive of not knowing you either.”**  
  
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**[Chapter Eleven](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories11.htm) **  
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**[Memories Prologue](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm) **  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	12. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Eleven**

**Diego looked dubiously at the doctor’s assistant and the tiny round device that she laid down on the little table near his bed.She was not the same kind of creature as Dr. Klictis, but she was still different enough to make him feel cautious.Completely covered with silky, honey-colored down, she had eyes of dark amber, large and round.They looked as deep as limpid pools and they seemed to be full of compassion.The stubby fingers moved in intricate patterns with a grace that belied their paw-like form.**

**This time, Diego had not left the bed, but he was watching from its very edge, waiting to see what the assistant would do.From what Minta had told him during her last visit, he had been in this hospital for two days, and, while he was still tired, he was feeling much better.Now he wondered what this individual had in mind for him.The device looked suspiciously similar to the sharp instrument that Director Jerintas had used on him when he had been kidnapped. “What are you going to do with that thing?” he asked, pointing to the device.**

**“This is the supplement that will help you feel better, so you aren’t tired all the time,” the assistant explained patiently, her voice as smooth as silk.The long whiskers that swept out from each side of her face twitched as she smiled her reassurance.**

**“Supplement?What do you mean by supplement?”**

**“It has things to build your blood and to keep you from being so tired.We have already given you several, all while you were asleep.”This assistant seemed to have the same type of warm personality as Minta, and he felt himself trusting her.Until recently he had been too tired to care what happened to him.Now he was just sick of feeling tired.He slid toward the middle of the bed so that she could reach him.“All right.Give me this supplement.I am getting very tired of sleeping in your hospital,” Diego said.**

**The assistant’s soft laugh echoed musically in the room.“I can see you are already beginning to feel a bit better.I think you may be ready to leave ‘our hospital’ tomorrow.”**

**“That will be very good,” Diego murmured, lying back against the pillows and trying to ignore the feel of the device as she held it against his arm.**

**=======================**

**The fifth day after the ship left orbit, Diego woke suddenly and stared at the pale-colored walls of his new room, feeling restless.He wiggled his toes and saw that his feet were hanging off the end of his mattress.Sitting up, he gazed into the tiny mirror that hung on the wall across from the narrow bed.It amazed him that something as tiny as this cabin could be considered living quarters.It was smaller than the room in the hospital on Minta’s planet.He slid off his bed and stretched, realizing that his hands came very close to touching the walls on each side of his cabin.Diego opened the narrow wardrobe recessed into one wall and pulled out the dark blue crewman’s jumpsuit that had been given to him yesterday to replace his cream-colored hospital attire.After a quick shower, the mechanics of which never ceased to amaze him, he shaved and then donned the outfit, fumbling briefly with the fastenings, until they finally snapped together, almost magically, it seemed to him.He rubbed his hand down the silky looking material, remembering a coal black outfit of somewhat the same look and feel.His hand paused briefly on his flat stomach, seeing in his mind a sash covering that part of his anatomy, hiding the belt that held his sword and scabbard.**

**_Sword!_ he thought suddenly and realized where the exercises that he had been performing each night before he had left the Rantiri hospital had come from.Looking around the room with wry amusement, Diego realized that exercising in this room would only result in bruises.As he reached over to close the wardrobe door, he felt the softness of the outfit against his body and realized that the feel of this material was slightly different than that of the black material he remembered wearing back home, even if the look was the same.This was softer and more lightweight, and it seemed to move more flexibly with the movements of his body.Closing his eyes, Diego tried to remember more of the black outfit, but nothing came to add to the fleeting images that he had been permitted to see in his dreams. **

**When he opened his eyes again, he felt as though the walls were closing on him.He remembered the nights on Minta’s world, when the hospital room, which was his universe at the time, seemed cloistered and small.It had taken all of his willpower to keep from beating the door down then.Diego tried to remember what Dr. Klictis had told him yesterday evening when he had left the hospital.Had he only dreamed the doctor’s statement that he could go anywhere in the ship?His body demanded freedom, it craved to walk and walk some more, free and without restraint.**

**Diego turned toward the door, then he stopped short.There was no door latch or knob, and there was no slot in which to slide a card, as Minta and her fellow teachers had in the hospital.He felt the door; it was cool to the touch, much like the one that kept him locked in at the Rantiri hospital.Next he made a thorough study of the doorframe.Suddenly his fingers brushed against a small depression and the door whooshed open.Diego stood in silent shock until the door swished shut again in his face.Carefully, he felt for the same depression and waited for the door to slide open again.When it did, he stepped out into the empty corridor.The door swished shut behind him.Startled, Diego turned and looked at the closed aperture, wondering how he would get back in.There was a symbol etched on a metal plate set in the wall next to his door.Looking around, he noticed similar plates next to all of the other doors.On each, however, the symbols were slightly different.Touching his symbol, Diego was gratified to see the door open for him again.Turning to the door across the hall, he pushed on the symbol of that plate, but nothing happened.Puzzled, he pondered and could only guess that like a special key, the symbols would only open the doors to certain people.**

**The thought of returning to his cramped cabin suddenly seemed abhorrent and Diego turned and walked down the corridor.Along its length, halfway up the wall, stretched a wide blue line.Reaching the end of the corridor, he noticed a similar, but different colored stripe on the next corridor.The bright paint broke the monotony of the cream colored walls and reassured him that he would be able to find his way back quite easily.He continued his walk, reveling at each step.**

**Some time later, after walking down what seemed to be innumerable corridors, into tiny rooms that seemed to move up and down, as well as those that boggled him with their immensity, his exuberance had been tempered.He was tired and hungry, and had realized long ago that he was lost.On occasion other residents of this spaceship had addressed him, but for some reason their translators didn’t seem to be working, and he had left his in his cabin.All he could do was smile and nod and hope he found his own room soon.**

**Walking down more corridors, Diego began wondering just how large this ship was.Although the corridors were almost identical, as had been the case near his cabin, there were subtle differences, enough to tell him that he had not been in any areas more than once.Turning another corner, he found himself in a wide corridor with a large door at one end.Touching the symboled plate, Diego was pleased when the door swished open to reveal a room with many empty chairs and tables.Avoiding those tables on which were stacked dirty dishes and utensils, Diego sat heavily on a chair near what appeared to be a great glass window.Sighing in relief, he turned to look at the view out the window.It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.The window itself seemed to be immense, stretching interminably over his head, from one side of the room to the other.**

**It was what was outside the window that entranced him.Diego had never seen anything like it.Streaks and whorls of red, yellow, white and orange flowed, wavered and danced past his eyes.The colors seemed to sweep across the window in strokes like a painter’s brush on a canvas.He ignored a loud voice behind him as he continued gazing at the astral splendor.**

**Finally another speaker, one whose voice was more strident and piercing than the other joined the first.Turning, Diego looked into the face of a very short, totally hairless, yellow skinned creature whose countenance was anything but happy.Tiny round eyes snapped with irritation.Behind him was another of the same race.The voices continued to rise in agitation, but Diego had not the slightest idea what was being said.Like all the others, their translators were not working for him. Puzzled, as well as alarmed that these strange creatures were upset with him, he pointed to his ears and made signs to indicate that he was unable to understand them. There was a sudden familiarity about these signs and he paused, trying to figure out their significance. **

**The creature said something else, peered closely at him, and then turning, pointed to a table covered with a myriad of dirty plates, cups and utensils.Did it want him to clean the table?Bernardo would certainly get great pleasure from this. _Bernardo?_ he thought and saw flashing in his mind, a vision of a somewhat older man, shorter, balding, but with a merry twinkle in his eye.His manservant.This was also the one who made the signs that felt so familiar to him.Diego quickly added that additional memory to the library of such half remembrances that he was amassing.**

**A tug at his sleeve brought him back to the present situation and he saw the creature pointing to the dishes, his finger trembling in agitation. _But why does he want me to do this?_ Diego thought, bewildered.Then he remembered that he was wearing a borrowed crewmember’s uniform.Apparently crewmembers on this ship also worked as servants.The creature in front of him had mistaken him for a servant.Looking around for someone who might be able to assist him, Diego was dismayed when he saw no other crewmembers in the room.Some of the other creatures in the room began watching the scene intently, one in silent amusement, others in sympathy, but none seemed inclined or capable of helping him. **

**Confused, Diego chose to simply comply with the creatures’ demands.He carefully stacked the lightweight utensils into equally lightweight cups, which then went on top of plates. _Yes,_ he thought, _Bernardo would see the humor of this situation if he were here._ Despite his present fatigue, despite his frustration at not being able to communicate, he was nevertheless happy, happy that his memories were beginning to sort themselves out in patterns that were now making a little more sense to him. **

**Seeing that his pile was more than high enough for him to handle, Diego turned toward an entrance that seemed most logically to be the servant’s door.The creature behind him kept berating him shrewishly, no doubt because he had left things behind.As he made his way carefully toward the far side of the room, his steps faltered and he stumbled.Diego tried to get a tighter grip on the dishes in his arms, but they were light, and they scattered everywhere.Some, despite their lightness, clattered noisily onto the floor, but to his surprise, the rest ended up in the arms of Dr. Klictis.**

**Diego looked at the mess on the floor in chagrin, but glanced back up as he heard the doctor’s mandibles clack in quick motion indicating amusement.“You really don’t have to try to pay for your passage, Diego,” the doctor said, putting the dishes on a nearby table.Turning to the disgruntled passengers, Klictis spoke soothingly to them.Their exchange was brief, but meaningful.The passengers gazed curiously at him, shrugged and then walked away.**

**Klictis turned back to Diego.“Mistress Minta was alarmed when she checked this morning and found you gone from your room.”He held a tiny oval device in his hand, which he quickly spoke into before putting it away.Seeing his patient’s puzzled gaze, he explained, “This is a communicator, Diego.With it, I have contacted your companion.She was almost panicked when she couldn’t find you in time for lunch.I must say I was beginning to worry myself, considering how anemic you were when you came on board.If I had not found you soon, I would have been forced to have your companion call for you over the public communicator.”**

**“Public communicator?” Diego asked, puzzled.**

**Mandibles clicked.“My point exactly.You haven’t been taught to use the communications system yet.But why didn’t you use the translator that was given to you yesterday?”**

**“I did not think about bringing it with me until I had been out of my cabin for some time.Why didn’t the others’ translators work when they spoke to me?”**

**“Because the language that you are using probably wasn’t programmed into their communicators.”Seeing Diego’s confused look, he tried to simplify.“The translator has to know the language you speak.If it doesn’t, or if you don’t say enough for it to decipher your language, then it can’t make a translation.”**

**“Oh,” Diego finally said and then focused on something that the doctor had previously said.“Lunch?Is it that late?”**

**“Apparently you have been wandering the ship all morning.You weren’t noticed because with that uniform on you were assumed to be a crewmember.”**

**“I felt very good this morning and wanted to see what this spaceship was like.I thought it would be easy to find my way back to my cabin, or maybe find Minta, but all of the…corridors began to look the same and I’m afraid I became lost.Now I only wish to return to my cabin and rest.”**

**“Yes, I can imagine that you would be tired by now.And without a translator…” Klictis began.**

**Diego simply shrugged.“Everyone seemed so busy.No one was able to speak the same language that I learned from Minta, so finally I stopped asking.” As Klictis motioned him to sit down in a reclining chair, Diego fumed over his comparative weakness.“When will I be well?I’m tired of this!” he blurted.He watched as a real crewman cleaned up his mess.**

**Klictis’ red eyes gazed unwaveringly on him, as though trying to figure out how best to explain this sickness to his patient.“Diego, what happened to you was on the inside.Your body couldn’t handle being on the Rantiri world and certain parts of it, like the part that makes blood, quit working. And you have to have healthy blood to feel well.Thankfully, you left before you became too sick to heal, but it takes awhile for the blood to build back up.”Dr. Klictis paused and then cocked his head as his patient’s expression remained unchanged.“You are getting better, you just overdid it this morning.”**

**The far door whooshed open and suddenly Minta was kneeling at his side.Tears were streaming down her cheeks and this time when she took his hand and caressed it, it seemed more to reassure herself than to reassure him. Diego was taken totally by surprise at her emotional outpouring and was speechless for a moment.Then he reached over with his free hand and lightly touched the soft, tousled white-gold strands that fell over her face.**

**“When I couldn’t find you, I was so worried for you, Diego.I thought maybe you might be sick somewhere…”**

**“Minta, where would I go?” he asked with a smile.**

**She looked up in surprise, gazing into his hazel eyes and seeing his warm expression.“I don’t know, but I only know that you were gone and I couldn’t find you . . .and I was afraid.”**

**Diego’s fingers lightly touched and then tenderly wiped away her tears.He experienced a thrill at the soft touch of her skin, gratitude at her caring and then something else, something he knew he had not allowed himself to feel for some time, something he had become so used to suppressing that he had almost forgotten what it was.For a moment, he rebelled and let the warm and tender emotions he felt for this woman well up inside his heart.**

**He gazed deeply at into Minta’s eyes and saw more than a teacher, he saw someone who cared deeply for him.He saw someone for whom he also cared deeply, so deeply it hurt.Then he remembered, digging into his still disjointed memories, just what he might be going back to.His dreams had shown him dangerous activities, perhaps not with absolute clarity, but well enough to worry about someone else sharing that danger with him.So he began trying to push those feelings back into the deep recesses where they had slept until his abduction.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the doctor leaving the room.Most of the other occupants had gone as well, leaving them pretty much alone in the large room.**

**As she gained control of her emotions, Minta saw immediately that Diego was no longer her pupil.He was her friend, to be sure, and for a brief moment, she saw something else.She thought about her fears during his absence, silly though they now seemed to be, and then she began thinking of their inevitable separation when he reached his home planet.Thoughts of returning to Rantiri alone filled her with emptiness and black despair.Her dreams only held visions of Diego, and his world as he described it, and her heart seemed to swell enough to choke her.Tears prickled in her eyes again and she blinked desperately to stop their renewed flow.**

**Minta remembered Loris, someone she was fond of a few years ago, but that was brief, a flaring of affection, half-fulfilled in a sanctioned living arrangement that had left them both feeling pleasure while it lasted, but no lasting heart-aches when he moved to another position in another hospital.It had left her with temporary disappointments.What good had those words of Rantiri union meant then?To be together, care for one another, put the other’s interests before their own?For how long? _As long as it was convenient, apparently_ , she thought morosely. **

**But Diego?She had felt something for him almost from the beginning, and looking back, it had been more than a physical attraction, although that was there, too.And now that he was regaining his memories, she wanted to totally give herself to the essence of this man.She wanted to share her life with him, feel his tender touch, hold him, and be with him.**

**She brought her focus back to the here and now and saw that she was massaging his arm, smoothing the hair, lightly touching his hand, massaging his palm.With a slight smile she remembered how she had recoiled at the sight of the hair on his body when she first saw him.It was now a part of what she loved about this man.**

**For a moment, Minta felt the gentle caress of his hand in her hair, and then she felt his strong hands enveloping hers.Gently he coaxed her onto his lap, a move that she didn’t fight in the least.As she leaned her head against his chest, he murmured, his voice full of sadness, “How can this work, Minta?You know nothing about me.I am your student.”**

**“No, Diego.You are wrong.I know everything about you.I don’t know your life story, but I know your heart.And you are not my student.You haven’t been from the beginning.You have been my teacher.You have opened up so much for me.You have shown me what ‘soul’ is, what independence, courage, and determination are.”She paused.“And you have taught me love,” she added in a whisper.She heard and felt his ragged intake of breath.**

**“Minta, how can this work?I do not remember that much, but I know that what I have been doing on my world is very dangerous.I do not want you to be in danger.You would be safer back on Rantiri…”**

**“There is nothing on Rantiri for me, Diego, because the only man I feel anything for is not there anymore….”Minta felt the warmth of his body blend with the warmth of her tears.She felt the rise and fall of his chest, lulling her and arousing her at the same time.She had never really dared until now to show how she felt toward this man of another planet, this man who was so much like her and, yet, so different, so vital and alive, while her people lived as though in waking dreams, trying to fulfill the wish of people long dead, living at the whims of those who saw them as less than real entities.**

**“When I get home, Minta, I will return to those things I was doing before.I have seen someone in a disguise, fighting against others.That someone is me.At first I could not understand it.Then I knew it was because I did not want my enemies to know who I was.If they did, they would kill me.And they would kill anyone else who knew me…”**

**Minta lifted her head up from his chest, and put two fingers over his lips.“Diego, my soul, my heart . . .”Was she really saying this?It was what she had read in the Ancestor’s diaries.It seemed so very appropriate, the words of the Ancestor to his beloved.How long had she really felt this way about Diego and not realized it?**

**“How long have you felt this way?” he asked, as though reading her thoughts, his voice husky with repressed emotion.**

**“And realized it?Since shortly before the spaceport,” she said.“Without realizing it?Almost from the beginning.”**

**Again, he sighed, but said nothing.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twelve**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories12.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	13. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter 12**

**They lay in the reclining chair, silently enfolded in each other’s arms with only the streaks and whorls of space above them.Minta finally noticed that Dr. Klictis had slipped away.“Tell me what you are feeling, Diego?” she asked.“Honestly.”**

**He sighed and sat quietly for a few more minutes.“I feel . . . pain.”**

**“What?” she blurted out.Jerking up, Minta stared at him fearfully, as she felt the muscles of his thighs bunch to accommodate her movements.She felt power and strength in them, even with the inactivity of the past weeks.He looked utterly miserable. “What’s wrong, Diego?”**

**“I feel the pain of loving someone so much that I have to send them away,” he said softly.**

**Fear constricted the knot in her chest even more.“What are you saying, Diego?”**

**“I remember.In my dreams.I did that once.I sent her away.”**

**“You love someone else?”**

**“No, not now.I…she meant more than life to me, I thought.I was willing to give up everything, including my secret, to be with her, but I…I remember that someone…my father, I think…convinced me not to.”**

**“Secret? What secret?” Minta asked.**

**“I . . . the disguise that I wore on your world.It helped me remember.”He paused, trying to sort all of the tiny vignettes of memory, the dreams and the reveries that flashed through his brain.In despair, he found that nothing was really clear.There were no names, yet, except for his and his servant’s.He had no idea of the order of things.Now, he almost wished they would all come at once or not come at all.It was very confusing.“I have dreams of riding in the night.Fighting in a mask.It is a secret from others.”**

**“I remember you told me of dressing all in black, of a cloak that flew behind you like the wings of birds.Do you know who you are fighting?” Minta asked.**

**“No, except I think they are people who would hurt others.In a dream, I saw one man needlessly whipping another man.And I took his whip away and used it on him,” Diego added, feeling his arm tightening around her shoulders and pulling her close to him again.**

**“And this other, the one you loved, she wanted you to give up something that was a part of you?”**

**“A part of me?” he asked, looking deeply into her eyes.**

**“What you just told me, Diego.This dark fighter of your dreams, the one that battles those who hurt others.If you dream of being this disguised person, I can only assume that he has become a part of you.”She moved in the oversized chair so that she was lying by his side instead of on his lap, and was able now able to see his profile while they were talking, and to watch those deep, expressive eyes.Right now they looked far away, as though he was seeing something else.**

**_Zorro_.Suddenly another memory focused, he was in black clothes, chasing after someone who had beaten a woman.He heard the name on the man’s lips.Furious, he jerked the man to the ground, bound him tightly and delivered him to men in blue and white and red costumes.Masked and mysterious, quick to dispense justice, but merciful.That was how they saw him.Hesitantly, Diego related this newest waking dream to Minta.He was not sure how she was taking all of this.His own emotions roiled inside, like a storm tossed ship.How could Minta make sense of all this when he couldn’t?**

**_Zorro._ There was now a name to go with Diego’s alter ego.Minta liked the feel of it in her mind.For some reason, it evoked a deep and mysterious power.In her world where respect and civility were almost bred as well as taught, the need for such a person seemed practically beyond belief.Having read and studied a great deal, Minta was well aware that not all societies were as stable and passive as her own.**

**Despite his reluctance to talk about it, Minta saw in Diego’s covert activity a selfless act of sacrifice to help his people.And for one who came from a society where the will of the individual was swallowed up in the good of the entire race, Minta was more than impressed.Knowing that self-reliance and individualism were something highly prized on his planet, she was awed by his decision.She began to think that Jerintas had no real idea of what he had done by kidnapping Diego.Seeing that Diego was remembering even more of his past, she said nothing.The silence became long and then longer.Minta was content to feel his warm body next to her as he pulled her close and pulled in more memories of his previous life.**

**“I am thinking that there are times when I want this Zorro to…to be gone, so that things will be at peace . . . normal.But I suppose you are right, he is a part of my life, a very dangerous part of my life.”As he turned his head to gaze thoughtfully at her, she almost wondered if he could read her mind. “You belong to a peaceful people, Minta.I can tell that, even though the Rantiri captured me and took my memories.”“But I…” he paused.“I have killed.”**

**Minta said nothing.He had killed other beings like himself.The idea of taking another’s life repulsed her.But on a world such as his, how could it be otherwise?If there were people who were so cruel to each other that it needed a masked hero such as Zorro, would not killing be part of it.But this was the world she wanted to share with Diego?Her thoughts dashed about, here and there, leaves blown about in the winds of her fear and indecision.**

**Diego saw the emotions in her eyes and felt fear of his own, fear that Minta would now draw away from him.Yet, such a decision must be made now, before they became even more attached to each other.“Minta...”**

**Minta felt his body almost imperceptibly draw away from her; saw the sadness in his eyes. _No!No matter what, I want to be with him._ She put her finger against his lips to stop him.“Diego, I thought as much. But knowing you, there must have been a reason.I know you would not do anything wantonly, but what I don’t understand is why, if someone loved you so much, why that person would want you to give up something that was so important to you, that is so important to . . . your people.”**

**He sat quietly for a moment, and then he began chuckling. “She did not love me.She only loved Zorro.”**

**Minta looked at him in bewilderment.“But I do not understand.Both are you . . . Diego and Zorro, the same person.”**

**“No, the mask.It keeps my secret safe.”He paused again.There was something else, something about his two personas, but it was too tenuous and he couldn’t catch his thoughts enough to figure out what it was.“She did not know that I am Zorro.”**

**His look was intense, as though he were trying to remember and trying to find the right words at the same time.After a long pause, Minta could stand it no longer.“Diego, please don’t ask me to leave you.”**

**He slid his arm under her shoulder and pulled her closer to him.“The thought of you in a… _cuartel_ , or dead, because of my secret.I simply could not bear that, Minta,” he said softly, his voice almost a murmur.**

**A deep sadness tore into her heart.“But the thought of you bearing this burden alone is almost more than I can stand.It is too much for one person.”**

**“Someone else knows…My servant.My father.”**

**“I do not know about servants or fathers, except for what you have told me about yours.However, I am thinking that a father cannot help carry such a burden as well as a lover can.”Diego still looked dubious.Minta remembered a time long ago with Loris, when she thought she knew what real love was.She remembered the words of the union with him, but instead of his face in her memory, she now saw Diego’s.“ ‘I promise to care, to share, to put your life before mine.My thoughts will be for your welfare, my loyalty to you, your burdens will be my burdens.’ ”**

**“What is that?It sounded like something you learned.The words are very nice,” Diego said.**

**Minta realized that she had spoken the words aloud.“They are the union words that we say to each other when we form bonds.I bonded with another once,” she said.**

**Now it was Diego’s turn to look surprised.“You were . . . in love before?”**

**“Like you, I thought so, but when he transferred to another city, he decided that it was not a good union.We said the dissolution words and that was it.I felt there should be more than that.I felt that a union should actually reflect the words.And now I know that it can.”**

**“You just said the words to each other?” he asked, incredulous, not hearing her last sentence.**

**“Yes.How do you do it on your world?”**

**“I . . . am not sure, but I do remember that there is someone to say words, someone who has . . . um . . . power to . . . bond two people.I see in my mind, great. . .”Diego paused, as though trying to find the right word.“…seriousness when the words are said and then there is great joy, much happiness after the . . . union.”Diego gazed up at the star streaks, deep in thought, trying desperately to remember.He shook his head.That was all he was going to get right now, just pictures.“Did you really mean that…’your burdens will be my burdens’?”**

**“Yes, Diego, I meant it with all my heart,” she said softly, her hand caressing his chest. She thought about a communiqué that she had received while she was looking for Diego.“Jerintas is already discussing my return to Rantiri and it fills me with grief.It fills me with black despair.I don’t want to go back.I don’t want to be alone again.I don’t want to be without you.”As she squeezed her eyes shut, trying desperately to keep from crying again, Diego did something that took her totally by surprise.He leaned over, put one hand gently under her chin.Then he tenderly placed his lips over hers, and did something with them, more than the simple touch his lips had made on her hand, seemingly so long ago.It was like a caress without hands and an extension of the feelings of their hearts.She felt a thrill run through her body, an excitement she had never felt before.Letting his actions guide hers, she soon found her lips moving to accommodate his.**

**When he finally pulled away, Minta asked breathlessly, “What was that?”**

**“It is something that is done when two people love each other.It is _besar_ . . . kissing.”**

**“Oh,” Minta said.“It is wonderful.”Then she pulled his face back toward hers and they kissed again.**

**Finally, he chuckled softly.“You learn quickly.”**

**“I have a good teacher,” she quipped.Then a sudden, startling thought occurred to her as she remembered the looks Diego received when they had gone out for the first picnic.“Diego, is everyone on your world the same as you?”**

**He looked puzzled.“Are you…making compliments?”**

**“No, Diego.I mean does everyone on your world have white skin and dark hair?”She looked imploringly into his eyes.“Is that another reason you are afraid?”**

**“I did not think of that.No, in my dreams I have seen people with very dark skin, almost as dark as yours, although most of them also have dark hair.There are people who have light hair.It seems that sometimes those differences are important to some people.I do not understand why.”He pondered for a moment, his brows creased in thought.Then he shook his head.“People will get used to the differences on the outside.As you told me once…it is what is under that skin that counts.My . . . family and friends will see that.”**

**Minta gazed at the far wall and then realized the full implication of what he just said.“Does that mean that you are willing to take me to your planet with you?”**

**“I am still afraid, but ‘my thoughts will be for your welfare’.Yes, Minta, my home is your home if you want to go there.It may be difficult for you as it was difficult for me on your world, I believe.Maybe even more.”**

**“Oh, Diego, of course I want to go to your world, and with you beside me I can get used to anything.I love you.Hold me forever and ever.Let’s say the union words now.Here . . . under the stars!”Minta stood up, tugging on his hand, bringing him to his feet.“Do that kissing again!”**

**His arms gathered her in a tight embrace and he murmured into her ear.“Saying the union words must be in front of someone who has the power to do it.It does not seem right to just stand in a room and say words to each other, no matter how beautiful they are, without someone there to see and hear them, too.It does not seem right to . . . rush something this important and special.”He pulled back to gauge her reaction.**

**“But we are the important ones, Diego, and if we know it’s right, why wait?” she protested.**

**“That is so, but this is something too important to do alone, I feel.Or just under the eyes of God.”Diego blinked in surprise as he suddenly remembered another name.Names seemed to be the hardest part of his memories to surface.**

**“Who is God?Is that like the First Creator?The Universal Being?”**

**Diego looked pensive, trying desperately to remember.“Yes, He created everything, including us.God is . . . universal.”**

**“Diego, who could be more important than God to witness our union?”**

**He gazed at her and she could almost see his thoughts turning furiously inside his mind like wheels.Then he began to laugh.“Minta, this is getting difficult to explain.I do not remember everything, but I do know that it is important for there to be someone who represents God to be over a ‘union,’ a _casamiento._ ”Diego blinked in surprise as yet another word popped into his memory.“It is important to take time for this.And there must be a _fiesta_ afterward,” he said, elated that words for his memories were beginning to come into his mind.**

**“But we can also say the union words?” she asked.“And can we have our ‘ _casamiento’_ here in this part of the ship, under the stars?”**

**“Yes, your words are very beautiful.”He gazed upward at the dancing kaleidoscope of stars.“Those are stars?They don’t look like stars on my world.”**

**“That is because we are traveling a special way so that we can get to your world faster.It makes the stars look different.”**

**“Oh, but even though they are different, they are still very beautiful, like you.”He nodded, and turning back to her, kissed her again, this time more briefly.“Yes, here would be nice.”**

**“Thank you, Diego,” she answered, pulling his face down to hers once again to seal their ‘engagement.’“By the way,” she finally asked, “What is a _fiesta?_ ”**

**“A fun time.”**

**“Oh, like a party.That would be wonderful.”**

**As he kissed her again, feeling the soft touch of her skin, letting the emotions of the moment take total possession of his actions, he saw in his mind, the older man of his visions, the man he now realized was his father.Suddenly, Diego understood that this was someone he had lived with and had known for a long time, but now only barely remembered.Once before, when he returned from a voyage, his father had been disappointed.Would the same thing happen this time when he came home with a wife?**

**_Ay!_ he thought.This was not easy, this decision they were making.Why couldn’t all of his memories just come and lay themselves before him in their neat and orderly rows? He knew his past was there, hidden deeply, waiting for the right time to come back to him.If he could just dig it up now, all at once!**

**Gazing down at Minta, he knew that Father would come to love her as well.And how could Father argue against the fact that she was the reason for his return home?But there was something else that nagged him, something that he could not quite figure out.**

**“What is wrong, Diego?” Minta asked, quietly.**

**She had always seemed able to read his emotions, he thought wryly, from the moment he had awakened.“I am not sure,” he answered.**

**“Is it because the older man, your father, is not here?” she speculated.**

**_That is it!_ Diego was chagrined that he had not thought of that himself.“Yes, I think he would want to be with me during this time.”Gently he kissed her.“How did you think of that and I was not able to?” he asked.**

**“I am not sure.I know very little about fathers, but I do know that close friends do things together.It only seemed natural that someone like a father would want to be with his son at his union.Do you wish to wait?”**

**“You said that Jerintas expects you to return to Rantir after I go home, yes?”**

**“Yes,” she answered.**

**“If we are united before we get to my planet, then he could not expect you to leave me.”**

**“Perhaps, perhaps not.Diego, a union is as easily broken as it is made,” Minta pointed out.**

**“Not to me,” Diego declared.“If we make a union, it is forever.We have to take that chance.My father will be disappointed, but I believe he will understand why we are doing this.”**

**“Thank you, Diego,” she said softly, then asked.“Can we be united soon?”**

**They stood arm in arm, silently watching the stars above them.Suddenly, Diego felt the rumblings of his empty stomach.He began to chuckle.“Minta, I know you are eager, but surely we can delay our union until I have eaten dinner?I have had no breakfast or lunch, and I am very hungry.”**

**She laughed with him.“Of course, my beloved.”It felt so very good to say that word--’ _beloved._ ’**  
  
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[**Chapter Thirteen**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories13.htm)  
  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	14. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Thirteen**

**Zorro rode the night, the steady rhythmic pounding of Tornado’s hooves on the hard earth soothing his troubled thoughts.Once again, El Diablo had slipped away.Zorro was beginning to think that this man might just be the Prince of Devils the peons were whispering he might be.He had robbed several churches, mostly small ones, but his trail from each one had ended abruptly.There were no clues.Absolutely nothing.The trails, and any tracks ended as abruptly as though a wall had been placed in the way.And in some cases, the trails had ended in front of sheer rock walls, or at cliffs where he could not remember them being before.Each time, it had left him feeling a cold sense of foreboding.Somehow, Zorro felt that this was just a precursor to another, much bigger, raid on the Mission San Gabriel, and he had to find the bandit’s hideout before that happened.**

**It had been over four weeks since Bernardo had begun his spying routine but that had garnered them next to nothing.In those four weeks, he had been unable to capture more than one of the bandit’s followers, and that one would tell him nothing, even when threatened with a sentence in the quicksilver mines.No hideout, no clues, no trail, it . . . was like the man could disappear into thin air, or that he had a spaceship.**

**_A spaceship? No, impossible!_ the Rantiri part of his mind said.His Diego side said the same thing only more vehemently.But could this insufferable fiend have found something that gave him an advantage? _Perhaps I have been on the wrong track all along_. _Maybe I need to look in other directions for my clues, even if they do seem virtually impossible_.Turning Tornado’s head, he sent the stallion racing back home. Bushes and trees swept by and the wind whistled in his ears.He was continually amazed him at the power and speed with which these animals moved.As he rode, he realized that if he was right, it couldn’t have gone totally unnoticed, just as the Designated One’s abduction hadn’t.If a spaceship or any otherworldly device had landed in the vicinity, someone would know of it, even if such an appearance was woven into wild tales that seemed nightmarishly supernatural.**

**The stallion slowed as they approached the secret cave.Ducking, they swept under the brush and into the dimly lit, but comfortable interior.As he took the saddle and bridle off the faithful stallion, Zorro heard steps on the hard stone floor of the cave.Bernardo pattered into the room, his lantern bringing more light than comfort.The mute was excited, but his hands were full and he couldn’t communicate.Setting the lantern down, he proceeded to show Zorro the object that was in his other hand.It was flat, about the size of a tortilla, a burned and scorched piece of metal, pitted and scratched.But it was very obviously out of place in this time and on this planet.**

**“That comes from a spaceship,” Zorro said out loud, taking the flat piece of metal and examining it closely near the lantern.A tap on his arm made him realize his mistake.**

**‘What do you mean…?’ the mute signed.**

**“Nave espacio, Bernardo,” he repeated and then sighed.How was he going to explain this one?**

**Bernardo signed some more.‘A ship in the sky, the heavens?’ he asked.‘How could that be?’**

**Pulling down the mask, Diego looked morosely at the ground.He examined his memories, his feelings and his resolve.He also examined his own directive on this world and his mind rebelled. _Why do I keep feeling that I need to confide in this man? Is it because in my heart, I believe or hope that the Designated One will come back?Or does this Earthman have such power to elicit confidence from others?_ And then his mind did a double take. _The Designated One return?How could such a thing be?_**

**Another tap… ‘What is wrong?’ the fingers asked.**

**“Bernardo, a spaceship is a special ship, craft that can ‘sail’ in the sky and into space,” he explained. _But how could the Designated One come back?And if he did, who would return his memories to him?_ He thought furiously, the questions pelting his mind like hailstones.But he kept coming to the same conclusion – that the Designated One would somehow return.It was a part of what he had received from the Designated One: that incredible will to triumph, and to keep struggling even under tremendous odds.**

**Bernardo suddenly remembered a book that Don Diego had brought back from Spain with him; one written by Cyrano de Bergerac that told of a voyage through space in a special craft. He had read it one night, when his patrón was out riding as Zorro, disbelieving every bit of it, but finding the tale intriguing anyway.Perhaps that is where this notion of a space ship had come from.He made motions with his hands… an open book.**

**With another sigh, this one of relief, Diego realized that Bernardo had given him a way out of this most awkward situation.“Yes, my friend, I read about spaceships in a book.” _If there is the slightest chance that the real Diego is able to return, I must be ready to teach him, to give him back what he has lost,_ he thought, knowing that what he had chosen to do was a complete reversal of the directive he had been given. He brought his mind back to the matter at hand – a spaceship and El Diablo.“But I believe that such craft exist and this is a piece of one.”**

**The mute’s eyes widened in disbelief and he shook his head.‘How?Where did it come from? And what does it mean?’He signed his questions in quick succession.**

**“I am not sure.Call it an educated guess, or just intuition, or both.”He paused feeling awkward.He hated deceiving this man who had been totally honest, loyal and devoted. “No, Bernardo, I have done much thinking since my escape, and with the reading that I have done, I feel that maybe the place I was being held in was a spaceship of some kind,” he added.“As to what it means, I think that may be why El Diablo is able to elude us so well.If he had a spaceship to hide in….”He paused again, wishing there was a better way to explain all of this.Bernardo alternately gazed at him and the charred piece of metal.His eyes held disbelief, but they also showed a sincere desire to understand what he was being told.**

**_It is so easy to see why the Designated One so quickly trusted this man, and why I, myself, do as well.He listens, truly listens, with his heart as well as his ears,_ Diego thought.“Where it came from, I am not sure, although I feel that it would have to be another world, like this one we live on,” Diego explained.**

**‘But how could this be?’ the fingers and face asked.‘God created us; he created this world.I do not understand.’**

**“Bernardo, if God created this world, could He not have created other worlds?” Diego asked.**

**Bernardo shrugged, spreading his hands in such a way as to indicate that he really had not thought of such a thing.Then he nodded and signed his agreement that such might be possible.**

**“I have nothing tangible to offer you, no proof, nothing except...maybe this pitted piece of metal.You must trust me when I say that I believe this is so.”Bernardo gazed thoughtfully at him, the eyes showing complete and unwavering trust.“Finish taking care of Tornado for me. I need to check this clue over more carefully.”**

**Bernardo looked far from enlightened, but he nodded, further indication of the confidence that he had in his patrón.**

**====================**

**Jerintas sighed heavily.He had no idea that he had even been holding his breath as he read the communication from Dr. Klictis on _The Galactic Rover_.Then he stood up and slipped the note into Gerol’s eager hands.**

**“So the Designated One has suffered no permanent effects from his stay on our planet,” Gerol stated with satisfaction after he had read the report. “That is good.”**

**“Every blood and tissue sample we have taken from the human, will be kept in their original protective canisters until we find a way to end the radiation.Dr. Klictis will continue to take more tissue samples through out the voyage.”Jerintas got up and paced the room.His agitation was tangible in every stride, in the set of his jaw, in his dark violet eyes.“How could we be so blind?How could our scientists not have seen this?”**

**“How could we know?It doesn’t affect us as it did the Ancestors, so it was not anything we needed to solve,” Gerol said.“And since none of our business contacts gave any indication of a problem from the Late Comer, we had no idea that our efforts were in vain.”**

**“Yes, of course, you are right, Gerol,” Jerintas said bitterly, looking over the papers scattered over his desk, papers sending more units to other worlds to be servants and entertainment units. “What purpose would it serve our customers to have the ‘manufacture’ of units end?We could no longer be categorized as artificial intelligences under galactic law.Selling the services of biologically reproduced, or born sentient creatures is tantamount to slavery and it would not be allowed.Which is another good reason to implement the suggestion of the Committee of Directors immediately.”**

**“Eliminating the Late Comer?” Gerol asked.**

**“Yes,” Jerintas stated. “I want all of our scientific energies diverted to safely removing the small planet.Even though its orbit is far from ours, the reports that I have been receiving from various scientists indicate that there is a radiation that does not seem to be naturally occurring.It does not have any similarities with anything known in the universe.Not only that, it is something that did not even register on our scientific instruments until we had recalibrated them to study the Late Comer.And what is worse, Gerol, is that it is highly toxic.Every report that I have read seems to indicate that eventually, it will even begin to affect us.”**

**“Perhaps it already has, Director,” Gerol reminded Jerintas.As the director slid them across the desk, he glanced at the reports received that very morning.**

**“As you read those, see if you concur with my conclusions, Gerol.I fully believe that we will eventually begin to sicken and die from the radiation emanating from the Late Comer, much as the Ancestors did.You, yourself have told me that more unit materials have had to be discarded recently.I believe that you cited operator carelessness.I submit that it might not all be Rantiri error.Therefore we will have to be very careful as we prepare to eliminate the threat of the Late Comer.We will put the DNA studies on hold until this problem is taken care of.”Jerintas gazed at his assistant.“Gerol, I am making you a sub-director.I want you to personally take charge of dealing with the Late Comer.I know your work.I know you can do it."**

**Gerol blinked in surprise and then sat up straighter in his chair. “I will get on it at once, Director,” Gerol said solemnly, trying to disguise the pride in his voice.**

**As soon as the new sub-director left, Jerintas sat down and composed a communiqué to _The Galactic Rover_.**

**====================**

**Just before dinner, Diego and Minta sat side by side before the ship’s spiritual advisor, whose dark, almost black eyes gazed at them in open curiosity. Minta’s long dark fingers entwined themselves around Diego’s light ones.“And you wish to become a union?” the advisor asked.“It is frowned on for a crewman to unite with a passenger.”**

**“We are both passengers, sir,” Minta said hastily, glancing at Diego’s uniform.“We are sorry for not warning you, but we came to our decision just this afternoon.Diego is wearing a uniform because he came on board without any luggage.Dr. Klictis was kind enough to find a spare uniform for him.”Her words came out in a rush that surprised Diego.The normally calm and unflustered teacher was definitely nervous.**

**“Ahh,” the advisor sighed, steepling his pale fingers.He was almost devoid of any coloration, except for the eyes.His hair was whiter than Minta’s, his skin lighter than Diego’s.The blue-black tunic he wore made him seem almost ghostly.“Well, then, by that I can rightly assume that you did not take this cruise for the purpose of a union?”His lilting speech gave an almost musical, lyrical quality to the translation.**

**“We cared for one another but did not realize just how much until we came on your spaceship,” Diego explained simply.“I assume you have the…authority to act for God and form a union?”**

**“Yes, I have that kind of authority, sanctioned by races from over fifteen planets,” the advisor answered.“I am curious, however.It is obvious that you are Rantiri,” he said, pointing to Minta.“And that you are familiar with the Rantiri,” he added indicating Diego.**

**Before the advisor could continue, Diego commented, “I am not from Rantir and would prefer more than the Rantiri words of union.Where I come from there is a . . . ceremony, and afterward . . . celebrations.As beautiful as the words of the union are, and we do wish to use them, I wanted to have more.”**

**The advisor nodded, smiling.“I will be happy to do what I can to accommodate both of you.First, I will need your names and planets of origin.”**

**“Diego de la Vega y de la Cruz,” Diego answered, the full name rolling off his tongue without thought, surprising even him.The advisor moved his fingers over buttons on a small machine.Looking up, he saw Minta smile in delight.His remembrance of his name was like the sweet savor of newly opened wine and he rolled it around the corners of his mind until he realized that the advisor was waiting for something else from him.**

**“Where are you from, Diego de la Vega y de la Cruz?”**

**“California,” he answered.**

**“That is not a planet I have heard of.Which quadrant is that in?” the advisor asked.**

**Minta stifled a giggle.“It is not a planet.California is a colony of Spain,” Diego replied.**

**“So Spain is your planet?”**

**“No, Elorim,” Minta interjected, using the universal address of respect for a male humanoid.“The planet that Diego comes from is called Earth.It is somewhat remote.”**

**The pale man nodded.“Ah, I see.”He keyed in the command to enter the information that they had given them and began to type in Minta’s name.**

**“I am Minta Morlif-Brocnor, and I am Rantiri.”She felt the rightness of using the Ancestor’s name, feeling a kinship with the long dead Minta.**

**The advisor paused momentarily as though thinking of something to say.Minta knew that he was familiar with the Rantiri number designations and she expected him to ask her about her choice of nomenclature.However, he just shook his head slightly as though he had made a quick mental decision, and then he typed in the information she had given him.“Very good.You decide when and just how much you want in the way of celebration and ceremony and I will accommodate your wishes.”**

**“Gracias,” Diego answered as the pair stood up, their hands still linked.Kissing her hand lightly, he murmured, “Soon, querida, soon.”**  
  
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[**Chapter Fourteen**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories14.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	15. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Fourteen**

****

**Diego and Minta sat in the doctor’s office the morning after their interview with the spiritual advisor, a visit to the chief medical officer a prerequisite to a shipboard marriage such as theirs.He had just finished examining each of them.“As I expected, neither of you harbor any organisms dangerous to the union, or any progeny thereof, nor are you incubating anything harmful to anyone on board the ship.I am approving the request for the union.”The doctor made the noise with his mandibles that Diego had come to know as laughter.“I cannot help but think that the latter reason is useless and redundant, since everyone is screened as they come on board anyway, but still, it gives me the opportunity to talk to both of you.”**

**Minta and Diego simply grinned at each other.They had been assured that the examination was a mere formality, but now it was over and the way was clear for their union.Diego leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek, his eyes shining in anticipation of the coming event.**

**“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘as quick as a Rantiri union’?” Dr. Klictis asked Minta, breaking into their quick celebration.She shook her head, although her eyes flashed with a spark of understanding and embarrassment.“It’s quite common knowledge that Rantiri unions are notorious for their lack of longevity.And that is what Jerintas will think is happening when he hears you have united.I also believe that if he thought this union was more serious than a shipboard romance and that you were planning to stay on Diego’s planet permanently with him, he would order you back and probably direct the captain to keep you on board ship when Diego transfers to the long range shuttle.”The doctor’s bright red eyes gazed deeply into her violet ones.“That is what you are planning, is it not?”**

**“Yes, Doctor Klictis, that is what we are planning,” Diego answered before Minta could say anything.“We wish to be married in several days or a week, enjoy our honeymoon on board this ship, however long that is, and then Minta will live with me at my _hacienda_ when we get home.”**

**“May I make a suggestion?” Dr. Klictis asked.**

**Diego and Minta nodded.**

**“I suggest that you not wait to be married.I suggest that you marry quickly, provided, that is, that you are really sure about this.I also suggest that you keep your union simple, with no celebrations, elaborate ceremonies or anything that would draw attention to yourselves.Minta, I do believe that I am not the only one on board ship who is in contact with your director.Even though he is allowing the one he calls the Designated One to return home, he still wants all the information possible.And that includes debriefing you upon your return to Rantiri, Minta.I am sure you have guessed that is the reason I have continued to take various tissue and blood samples from you, Diego.”The doctor paused for a moment and the medical office fell silent.Then with rapid clacking, he continued.“There also had to be some contact with an off world benefactor for both of you to have passage on a luxury ship such as this, with a shuttle available to finish the journey, so I suspect that the captain is at least aware of your presence on board.”**

**Minta nodded thoughtfully.She had been wondering how her meager savings could have provided so well for them on board this ship, which was obviously a pleasure ship that only carried a small amount of cargo.**

**“I thank you for your advise, doctor,” Diego said.“With that in mind, I believe we should do as you say.Something simple with the spiritual advisor leading the ceremony, and we can also say the Rantiri words of union.”**

**Klictis nodded, clacking his mandibles in amusement.“I talked to the Spiritual Advisor, so I have an idea of what you had in mind for your union, Diego.“Surely if you have complicated ceremonies and celebrations on your home planet, you can have them after your arrival there.A renewal of sorts, I suppose.Of course, you could always wait and be married on your home planet.”**

**“No, Doctor, for some reason it seems right to unite now, with the other ceremonies later.I do not know why, I just feel this is what we should do.”Diego paused, looking thoughtful.He wondered why he felt that way.It was strange feeling so strongly about something, but not fully understanding the reason why.That, he assumed, would come back with full and complete memory.“Yes, you are right, doctor.”He turned to Minta, taking her hand and gently kissing it.“We will have a grand fiesta when we get home,” he murmured.“We can be married as soon as you wish, mi querida enamorada.”**

**“Tonight, Diego.Please?”**

**Diego nodded, kissing her hand again and looking forward to many days, weeks and years with the beautiful soul he had met across the stars.**

**================================**

**Diego and Minta stood gazing into each other’s eyes, their fingers interlocked, their hearts and minds concentrating only on each other, almost missing the Spiritual Advisor’s words.Behind Diego stood Dr. Klictis.Behind Minta stood the captain’s representative, who looked something like Dr. Klictis, but stockier with a more human looking head.The star trails melted and coalesced above them, dancing their celestial dance of joy.The room had been closed off for the duration of the brief ceremony.**

**“…In the sight of the Almighty Creator, the One who created all that surrounds us, I pronounce you, Minta Morlif-Brocnor, and you, Diego de la Vega y de la Cruz, united, a couple bonded by love, respect and free choice.” He paused briefly, smiling at the unmoving couple.“You may now say the words of union that you have chosen,” he added softly.**

**The advisor’s voice broke into her emotions and thoughts.She felt as though she were coming out of a dream, one that she didn’t want to relinquish.“I promise to care, to share, to put your life before mine.My thoughts will be for your welfare, my loyalty to you, your burdens will be my burdens,” Minta said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, her violet eyes gazing deeply into Diego’s hazel ones.As he took a breath to say the union words, she found more words in her heart, words beyond those that were normally said at a union.“I will love you forever, Diego, with a love that will never grow dim.My soul will be knit with your soul for eternity.”Despite her resolve to not cry, her eyes grew misty and Diego’s glowing face wavered before her.She felt tears trickle down her cheeks.**

**“I promise to care, to share, to put your life before mine.My thoughts will be for your welfare, my loyalty to you, your burdens will be my burdens,” Diego said softly. He reached over with one hand and gently wiped away her tears, his smile warm, his eyes full of love. “ _Te quiero y te tengo siempre en mi corazon, siempre será una parte de mi alma.”_ Minta looked puzzled.“I love you, I…cherish you, and always you will be in my heart.Forever you will be a part of my soul,” he translated, almost flawlessly.**

**Minta smiled and the tears flowed with renewed joy, tears that she did not even try to stop.Diego’s gentle fingers lightly touched her lips, and then traveled down her jaw line.Slowly he raised her chin and kissed her, the gentle brush of his lips becoming more intimate, harder and more passionate.Then he took her in a crushing embrace, savoring the warmth of her body against his, the feel of her heartbeat in rhythm with his.He held her for what seemed an eternity.**

**Finally, Diego pulled back slightly, still feeling his passions rise until they almost overwhelmed him. _When we are alone_ ….Minta was panting softly.Still holding her close, he glanced at the Spiritual Advisor and then at Dr. Klictis.Happiness welled uncontrolled and finally it found release in joyous laughter.Turning back to his wife, he said, “Señora de la Vega, it is time for us to leave.Shall we reside in your cabin tonight or mine?”**

**A light tap on his shoulder caused him to turn reluctantly away from Minta.The Captain’s representative bowed slightly. “Elorim, in honor of your union, we have prepared a cabin suitable for a newly formed couple.I will show you the way now and tomorrow your belongings can be moved there from your old cabins.And of course, dinner will be either at the Captain’s table in a quarter of a zelnon or it can be sent to your cabin.”**

**Diego smiled happily.The idea of trying to enjoy the night with his bride on his tiny bunk bed had not been an appealing one.“Thank you, señor, that would be most…satisfactory.As to dinner…” he looked back at Minta, but she still had the bemused look of one not quite believing events that had just happened,“…please bring it to our cabin.”**

**“Come this way, then.”Arm in arm, the couple followed the crewman down several corridors, into an elevator, which was just another of the innumerable things that Diego had ceased puzzling over, and down another corridor.Placing a small device against the opening indention, the crewman punched several small buttons and then stood back as the door opened.“The door will now recognize both of you.Have a good evening.”With a smile, he turned and left them.**

**Diego gazed into the room, which appeared to be four times the size of his former cabin.A large bed occupied the middle of opposite wall, with a coverlet of soft satin-looking material woven in a floral pattern.Soft lights glowed, not only near the door, but also above the bed and over a doorway to their left.The décor was more than functional; it was ornate, with pictures on the walls, painted wallpaper lining the top of the wall all around the room and several chairs covered with a deep burgundy material.Twin nightstands of deep wood or wood-like material flanked the headboard.A small chest of drawers with golden handles stood against the wall to their right and beside it were chairs and a small table made from the same material as the nightstands and dresser.**

**“Well, Diego, are we going to stand here and gawk or are we going in?” Minta prodded gently, with a soft giggle.**

**Diego walked in and peered into the small doorway to his left- a washroom, but larger than the tiny thing in his cabin. As the door closed with a loud whoosh, he turned to his bride.Slender and lithe she stood there, her white-gold hair cascading like a waterfall over her shoulders.He felt his heart beating faster in anticipation.“Señora de la Vega,” he said huskily.**

**Minta lowered her eyes, suddenly shy.Then she looked up at him, her eyes misty with tears of joy.She crossed the room and threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in the fabric against his chest.“It is hard to believe what has happened in just one short day.”**

**Diego ran his hands gently through her hair, and then down the curves of her body to her waist.“Yes, it is also hard for me to believe what has happened, not only in one day, but the past many days, however long I have been away from home,” he murmured.“I remember times when I wanted someone with me, close to me, someone to hold, love, talk to . . . confide in so badly, that it was a real ache inside.”**

**Minta closed her eyes as his lips found hers, then moved to her neck, traveling down and then back up again, resting momentarily against her ear.“You have fulfilled my dreams, mi novia.Querida mia.”His breath caressed her neck warmly, exciting her, sending tremors of pure joy through her.His strong hands moved back up her body, his fingers intimately, gently and lovingly touching her.**

**She caught one of his hands as it made it’s way toward her neck and she laid her cheek against his palm, feeling its warmth, savoring his heartbeat, the evidence of his reality.“The Universal Creator knew what He was doing,” she sighed.“Your temporary misfortune has turned into such joy for me.Oh, Diego!I had no idea what happiness could really be like. I didn’t have one tenth this much joy in my other union.”She gazed into his face.His eyes seemed to be trying to savor every part of her.“Are you truly happy, Diego?”**

**“What a question, querida!” he answered, punctuating his answer with a soft kiss.“Of course I am happy!I have you forever, for eternidad.**

**”**

**Minta’s eyes held a slightly puzzled look in them.“Diego, your native language is coming back to you now, isn’t it?Those words you have used, they are beautiful.What do they mean?”**

**He guided her to the bed where they sat down on the edge.It’s softness brought back memories of his home.It was so much better than the hospital beds he had been subjected to since his kidnapping. _No, not kidnapping-- my opportunity for happiness,_ he thought.“Yes, I am beginning to think in my language.Cara mia, the words I have used are mostly words of love…amor.”He told her the meaning of every word he had used, punctuating each one with a soft caress or gentle kiss on her ears, on her neck, on her lips, forehead or cheeks.**

**Suddenly, Minta began giggling.Diego had been nibbling on her earlobe.“That tickles,” she finally said.With a mischievous look on his face, his fingers began windmilling against her sides, causing her to gasp in paroxysms of laughter.Then he began to laugh with her.He continued for a few more minutes until she fell back on the bed to catch her breath.“You rogue!” she declared, still giggling, tears rolling down her cheeks.**

**“Rogue?”**

**“A rascal, a scamp, someone who finds great pleasure in teasing others—having fun at their expense,” Minta replied.**

**“Ah, I believe I have been called that before,” he answered her with a broad grin.He leaned down and kissed her yet again, deep, full, and long.Slowly, he lowered himself until he was laying on top of her chest, some of his weight held on one arm, but close enough to feel the strong beat of her heart, the rise and fall of her chest, and the warmth of her flesh.As he felt every curve of her body, a warmth gathered itself inside him, an overwhelming passion exploding within his body.Fiercely, Diego kissed her, feeling her lips and body responding.**  
  
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[**Chapter Fifteen**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories15.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	16. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Fifteen**

**After several more nights of fruitless searching, lost trails and frustrating dead ends, Diego peered at the large map of the area haciendas, missions and pueblos that lay spread across his writing desk.He lightly marked each place where he had lost the trail of members of El Diablo’s gang.When he had finished, he gave a whistle of surprise.A tap on his shoulder forced his eyes away from the map and to the concerned face of his mozo.**

**‘What does this mean?’ the fingers signed.**

**“It means that his hide-out is right about here, Bernardo, and it’s very well hidden.These are the places where I lost track of the bandidos.All of these trails are equidistant from this point,” he said pointing to a place on the map indicated by his index finger.“Diablo Arroyo,” he murmured.“How appropriate.”He studied the map for a few more minutes, making sure that he had every detail in his mind.**

**He finally looked up.“Get Tornado saddled, Bernardo.”**

**The mozo signed his concern.**

**“I realize that El Diablo probably has over fifteen men by now,” Diego said.“I also realize how dangerous it will be, and yes, it is still light outside, but it will be dark by the time I get to the arroyo.”Seeing his servant’s concern still etched on the moon-shaped face, Diego placed a hand on Bernardo’s shoulder.“It will work out, my friend.It will work out,” he said, reassuringly.Then he turned toward the tiny door that led to the secret room where his costume hung on pegs on the wall.Bernardo moved past him and on down the stone steps to ready the ebony stallion for the night’s work.**

**Diego felt the reassuring smile leave his face.Foreboding rushed through his chest, but he pushed it aside.It had been over four months since he had taken on this role; he had lived it, had breathed it, and had let it become part of his heart and soul.He had pushed aside the Director’s instructions and immersed himself in the psyche of Diego de la Vega, el Zorro.He was not going to stop because this role had suddenly taken on the appearance of deadly danger. _And what about the chosen one?_ a tiny voice in his mind asked. _What about him?_ he answered himself.Wouldn’t the Designated One do the same thing?Hadn’t the human been putting himself into harm’s way for almost two years? _What if he comes back?_ His mind kept asking the questions and then provided the answers. _If he comes back, it will be with help.Whoever is helping him will take care of what he needs.And, of course, there is Bernardo…faithful, loyal, devoted Bernardo.Yes, all will be well…._**

**Diego tied the thick cord of the cape, pulled the bandanna over his hair, tied it and then drew the mask toward his face.The world narrowed to the two slanted eyeholes, the focus of justice in this place and at this time.Then he tied the soft silk against his face, and, taking the steps two at a time, Zorro quickly made his way to the bottom of the cave where Tornado stood waiting, Bernardo holding the bridle in readiness.Swinging on the great stallion, the black clad avenger smiled.“I will return, Bernardo, but not before El Diablo is taken.”**

**Bernardo signed his good wishes and watched as his master and friend rode out into the late afternoon, but his heart was seized with worry, his soul filled with fear.Even though Don Diego had gone into danger equal to what he was going into this evening, something just didn’t seem right.Pondering, he realized that he had felt fear for his master ever since Don Diego’s escape from his kidnappers, whoever they were.Perhaps his anxiety was related to that incident and he had just been over-reacting since that time.However, his steps led him to a small alcove, where he kept a tiny candle.Taking a straw from the ground, he stuck the end in the lantern and then lit the candle from the flame that flared.Finally, he said a prayer, crossed himself and walked slowly back up the stone steps, where he began tidying up the already immaculate room.**

**=========================**

**Tornado galloped effortlessly, his muscles rippling under satiny smooth hide, his hooves beating rhythmically against the ground.Zorro felt the taut energy under his legs and felt empowered by it, his sword banged lightly against his left hip, his whip swishing softly against his saddle.The chill knife in his sash was beginning to warm against his stomach and the wind drove itself into his lungs, sighed under the brim of his hat and caused the cape to billow out like the wings of a giant black condor.**

**“Ah, Tornado, we are going into great danger tonight,” he said.“We must be ready for whatever comes and fight with great courage.”The stallion increased his mile eating pace until they made their way into the more rugged hills southeast of the de la Vega rancho.As they followed a faint trail, one they had tried several days earlier, it suddenly ceased, looking for all the world like the edge of a cliff.Tornado stopped short, shaking his head and snorting.Dismounting, Zorro studied the end of the trail as his eyes were seeing it.Along with his frustration, he felt a peculiar sensation, one of aversion, as though something odious lay ahead of them, something to be avoided at all costs.The closer he stepped to the end of the trail, the worse that feeling became.**

**His Rantiri memories supplied him with a possible answer, a camouflage force field of some kind, one that fooled the physical senses as well as his inner feelings.Idioso! _I should have realized this before.I know there is no cliff here!_ he thought.His Rantiri memories clashed jarringly with his Diego memories, but it became very clear that the outlaws had found a space ship, one with a working force field.Bernardo had a piece from an obviously damaged craft.If this was the same one, there were still parts still working and he had to destroy it.If an alien was working with the gang….That was an unwelcome thought that he shoved aside.He had to investigate and had to get rid of the evidence.**

**Pushing his hat back, he carefully pulled off his bandanna and tied it around Tornado’s eyes.The stallion snorted again, but calmed down, trusting the voice of the one leading him.Taking a bearing on the path ahead, Zorro closed his eyes and eased his way forward.The sensation deepened, until he wanted to run in the opposite direction.He felt Tornado tug on the reins, evidently feeling a bit of the same thing, but the stallion followed him despite his fears.**

**Zorro continued his slow pace, his feet serving as his eyes, until the sensation lessened.When he finally opened his eyes, the masked man saw the trail as it should be, narrow and meandering up the _arroyo_ , the hoof prints of horses coming and going very evident now.Standing completely still, his hand over Tornado’s nose, Zorro listened intently for evidence of a guard.That was what had worried him the most when he had entered this protected area, his vulnerability.Apparently, however, these men felt that their force field was enough.There were no guards on duty.It amazed him how the outlaws had been able to become comfortable with this alien technology, especially something that could so easily be considered magical and evil.But then, these men themselves were evil.And like all humans they were also very adaptable.**

**Quickly, he swept the bandanna from Tornado’s eyes and tied it back on his head.Then remounting, he continued up the path slowly, ears on guard, eyes darting from left to right, checking out every shadow, every movement, and every sound.**

**The sun slipped over the horizon and the shadows grew longer.The scent of a campfire came to his nose and, in the deepening dusk, he saw its glow.With hand motions to Tornado, Zorro left the stallion and crept forward. A stunted tree and the deepening twilight hid him from view of the bandits’ camp.Quickly, he counted fifteen men, some lounging near the fire, drinking out of mugs, others scooping the remains of their dinners into their mouths with rolled up tortillas, others lying on blankets near the edge of the camp, dozing.**

**Excruciatingly patient, he could wait as long as it took for the outlaws to fall asleep.Then he would act.Pulling even further back into the shadows, Zorro found a place where he and Tornado could hide while they waited.Soon he heard snatches of boasting, laughing and singing.Zorro was sure that El Diablo’s gang didn’t understand what it was that protected them, but their confidence in its power was evident in the careless manner they were kept their camp.That would be to his advantage.**

**Finally, the voices lessened until only the soft, mournful hooting of owls and the rustle of mice and rabbits remained.With another hand sign to the ebony stallion, Zorro again crept forward, his steps almost soundless, his eyes taking in everything around him.He traveled around the perimeter of the camp until he found the picket line.One horse snorted in alarm at his approach, but with a soft whisper and gentle hand, he quieted the animal.Pulling a short knife out from his sash, Zorro cut the picket line, untying the horses, leaving them to graze and wander.**

**Quietly he gathered up the pieces of rope and resumed his journey around the campsite.In the light of a waning moon he made out a glint ahead of him.As he approached the unnatural-looking mound, Zorro could see that it was a pile of mangled and tortured metal, shards of steel pointing skyward like spears.Inside what had once been an airlock, there was a small flash of blue, sporadic and weak.Carefully stepping across the wreckage, he approached the tiny beacon and recognized the source of the camouflage field.His hands found the wiring that connected the machine to a small battery-pack and pulled it loose.The light weakened and then died.**

**With a smile of satisfaction, Zorro stepped back out of the wreckage and continued around the perimeter.He ducked behind a boulder as a sleepy bandit yawned and shuffled his way out of camp, scratching his stomach and mumbling about what he considered the obscene chill of the evening.With the hilt of his knife, the masked man cuffed him, quickly tied him up and dragged him a short distance further from the camp.Soon two more bandits, each shuffling out of camp to relieve the excesses of their evening wine, found themselves likewise bound and unconscious.**

**His next victim was sleeping only a little beyond the rest of the bandits, but only the slight breeze sloughing through the branches of a nearby juniper tree witnessed Zorro’s approach.Quickly and efficiently, the masked man clamped his hand over the sleeping bandit’s mouth and clipped him across the temple with the hilt of his sword, then pulled the unconscious man away as well.Soon four others followed in a similar manner.Then disaster struck.**

**Despite the chill of the early morning hours, Zorro felt the sweat trickle down his neck and back.Just as he reached the ninth bandit, the man snorted, then gasped in the middle of a yawn.Zorro froze, with only the cape rustling softly behind him until the man seemed to ease into a more restful sleep.But as Zorro reached over with his sword in his fist, the bandit rolled over, regarded him sleepily for only the barest of seconds and then cried out, his voice shrill with fear, before the sword hilt quieted him.**

**Zorro jerked himself to his feet, sword ready in one hand, whip loosened in the other, writhing on the ground like a snake ready to strike.He didn’t wait for them to respond.Even as skilled as he was, the odds of defeating six men were too great to allow them to have any advantages.Lunging forward, he pierced the nearest man’s shoulder with the point of his saber and then jumped back to the accompaniment of the bandit’s screams of pain.The whip disarmed the next man, sending his pistol sailing over his head and into the brush behind him.Another flick of his wrist and the whip coiled itself around the man’s arm.Zorro jerked the bandit toward him, his sword hilt rendering him unconscious.**

**The next man was ready, sword out and lunging.Zorro parried the thrust, slamming his left fist into the face of his opponent.The man staggered back, shaking his head, splattering blood everywhere from his damaged nose.A quick moment, though, and he was back, slashing the air with a mighty swing that Zorro easily dodged.This one was more skilled than the others and the black clad outlaw studied the man carefully in the dim light, checking his abilities, and looking for weaknesses, as he quickly located the other three men.One had a knife and was charging him from the side.Sidestepping quickly, Zorro stuck out his foot and sent the man sprawling into the dying fire.His screams joined the whimpers of pain from his injured comrade.**

**The sword-wielding bandit took advantage of the momentary distraction, slashing again.Zorro barely had time to dance out of the way, much less assess the situation, deciding the best way to dispatch the remaining bandits, including this one.As the moonlight struck his opponent’s face, Zorro realized that he was fighting El Diablo himself.His eyes narrowed as he watched the movements of the bandit leader.Slight shuffling behind him alerted Zorro of his dangerous position, but El Diablo evidently wanted to fight the masked man one on one.A tiny motion of the hand and the shuffling stopped.**

**Zorro leaped forward, a quick thrust tearing El Diablo’s shirt.The outlaw’s eyes narrowed as he leaped back.Leaping forward, Zorro alternately slashed and thrust at El Diablo, trying to keep him on the defensive as much as he could.He had to grudgingly admit that his opponent was very, very good.The duel went on for some time, back and forth.While not overly tired, the masked man was fully aware that time was not in his favor.He still had three other men to deal with after El Diablo, men who might now be armed with pistols.**

**Then, in the faint light of dawn, El Diablo began to falter, his strokes growing less forceful and wilder.Not that he could be easily dismissed.Zorro barely deflected the last riposte that left a small tear in his shirt.El Diablo threw his head back and laughed.“You are mine, _Señor_ Zorro!God favors me with His protection.You will be dead and I will own this part of California!”He laughed again as he leaped forward in a great lunge that would have skewered the masked man had he remained still.But Zorro hadn’t remained still.**

**Tossing his sword aside, he grabbed El Diablo’s arm and jerked him toward the ground, slamming the man’s chin on his knee.Then he hauled him to his feet again and with one arm around his neck, jerked Diablo in front of him, pivoting around to meet the other men.Their pistols went off simultaneously, their balls striking El Diablo with enough force to send Zorro staggering backward several steps.Without even a groan, the bandit sank to the ground.**

**Zorro scooped his sword and faced the now weaponless men.One came at him with a knife, but he was quickly dispatched.The other two threw up their hands and surrendered.Within a short time, Zorro had them tied up.Sgt. Garcia would be most pleased with this night’s work since the _rancheros_ as well as the priests and townspeople had been complaining about the continued depredations of El Diablo.All that remained was to destroy the damaged spacecraft and get a message to the good sergeant.**

**As he walked out of the camp, he heard the sharp report of a pistol about the same time that he felt the sudden painful stabbing of a ball entering his back.**  
  
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[**Chapter Sixteen**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories16.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	17. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter 16**

**The force of the ball slamming into his back threw Zorro forward onto the ground.He knew he should get up immediately and face his attacker, to protect himself, but the shock of the wound left him struggling to pull air into his lungs.His whole left side felt numb for a minute and then the pain began, radiating outward from the left side of his back and through his chest.With a groan, Zorro realized that he had, without meaning to, fulfilled Jerintas’ directive.He had alleviated the speculation of demon or extraterrestrial visitation, and now he was dying, as had been intended.**

**He heard a shuffling near him and then felt a toe jabbed in his ribs.“You may have killed my brother, but he will now know that his death was avenged,” a voice muttered in a tone of deep satisfaction.**

**Recovering from his shock and mustering his waning strength, Zorro rolled over and grabbed the bandit by the leg, twisting his foot and jerking it out from under him.Then he got up as fast as he could, grabbing his sword from the ground where he dropped it, but the bandit was up and facing him just as quickly.His opponent’s face was filled with pain and Zorro saw that this was the bandit he had stabbed in the shoulder early in the fight.**

**With an angry growl, the bandit threw the pistol at him and Zorro let it hit him in the chest, preferring not to experience the even more excruciating pain that ducking would bring him.Instead he took two quick steps forward and ran his sword through his attacker’s heart, pulling back as the man slumped to the ground, a surprised look on his face.He stood, panting slightly, feeling the slight wheeze of air from his wound.His back felt sticky, his thoughts sluggish and he knew that whatever he was going to do needed to be done quickly.Pulling off his sash, he drew it tightly around his body, covering the area of the wound, jerking it as hard as he could and tying the ends in a knot.Zorro felt constricted, but hopefully his efforts would slow the bleeding.**

**Breathing slowly, feeling a heaviness in his chest, he whistled and was answered by Tornado’s piercing cry.Within minutes the stallion was prancing in front of him.“Tornado, come with me,” he said softly. With one hand on the horse’s withers, he walked toward the extraterrestrial wreckage, pondering how to destroy the evidence.Although his Jerintas memories gave him general knowledge of spacecraft, they didn’t include demolition expertise.**

**Stepping inside the shattered ruins, Zorro studied the remaining equipment.In one very dim corner, he saw a tall, narrow cabinet that looked somewhat familiar.Walking over to it, he found the locking mechanism destroyed, but the door was still stuck.Grabbing it with both hands, he gave a mighty pull even though the ravaged muscles and flesh sent searing messages of agony throughout his body.The door came open, but he continued to hang onto the handle, panting, waiting for his vision clear. Finally he looked inside the bin where various weapons were stacked inside, and pulled out several laser rifles, dragging them across the deck and out the door where he stood them against a tree trunk.Pausing slightly to catch his breath, Zorro picked one and returned to the spacecraft.He took quick aim and fired, the thin beam of light searing the already damaged instrument panels into slag. He continued to do this until the acrid scent and smoke of burnt plastics sent him stumbling outside the wreckage, where he fell to his knees, coughing, nearly fainting from the pain.Finally he willed himself to stop, although his lungs protested.**

**He selected another of the weapons, this one more powerful looking.Instead of going back inside, he aimed from the doorway, careful not to let the tendrils of yellowish smoke reach him.Pain throbbed across his back and into his chest, but he ignored it, pushing his discomfort as far to the back of his mind as he could, determined to finish the job that he had begun.This beam was more powerful and Zorro’s aim was true.Instrument panels continued to melt, metals and plastics running together, sliding into puddles of dark gray and sickly yellow on the decking.Wiring was exposed and then it, too, was melted, adding to the putrid soup.Smoke wafted to the top of the small craft, creating a brown cloud.Suddenly, there was a small pop and flame burst out of the panel, snapping and roaring like a wild, ravenous beast trying to consume everything before it.**

**Zorro backed off, allowing the morning air to push the lingering tickling scent of burning electronics and plastics away from him.Behind him, Tornado snorted nervously, his hoof scraping the hard earth.Turning slightly, the masked man laid his gloved hand on the horse’s neck.Tornado snorted again, shaking his head.“It is all right, Tornado,” he murmured, patting the glossy ebony hide.Soon the wreckage was fully engulfed in flames.With a nod of satisfaction, Zorro began throwing the weapons he had pulled out back into the burning craft, only leaving one, the large rifle, to finish the job of demolition if it was needed.**

**Grabbing hold of the saddle horn, and trying to ignore the sharp spears of pain that coursed from his back down to his legs, he swung onto Tornado.Both man and horse stood statue still, watching the fire that was brighter than the morning sun.Finally his Rantiri memory gave him reason to fear such a great conflagration and Zorro tossed the remaining rifle into the fire, riding away as fast as he could down the rugged trail.He was just past El Diablo’s camp when the sharp cracking boom of the exploding spaceship broke the relative silence of the morning, and made Tornado snort in fear and dance sideways on the path.“Calm yourself, my friend,” he murmured, patting the stallion on the neck.To his relief, the prancing eased as they continued down the trail.**

**At the opening of the arroyo, Zorro paused a moment to let the morning sun not only warm his face, but his bones as well.The sun seemed almost to renew some of his strength and he turned slightly north toward the hacienda, toward home.He could not be found here.He could not be found lying in the dust.Zorro could not end that way.How could he have failed so completely? _Jerintas had no idea what he had interrupted!The instructions that I was given by the Director were ludicrous, unrealistic and totally cruel to these people here on this little corner of this world.Jerintas saw Diego de la Vega and his people as backward and primitive, but they still have emotions; they hurt, they love and they think.They hurt when the sun dries up their corn before the kernels form or when their children die, or when their taxes are so high their sons or fathers are sold to work in the tin mines.They love their children, their church, the fruits of their labors, the land, the sun and the clean, crisp air.They love their hero, the fox, this Zorro for whom I have substituted these past months.They think he is forever, and in a way he is.His spirit lives on in the indomitable spirits of these people who have made their lives in this harsh, but rich land.But they need a physical hero; they need someone to continue to give them their hope._ **

**Zorro looked up at the sun once again seeing the lateness of the morning.He felt a sticky wetness underneath him on the saddle.The makeshift bandage couldn’t handle the damage the one bullet had done. _Do I really believe that the Designated One can possibly return?Or will Zorro die with me, an inferior substitute?If there is any chance that the chosen one can return I must prepare the man I have come to know as ‘father.’Also Bernardo…he too, has to know that his master might be coming home._**

**Coming back to the present, Zorro saw that Tornado had been cantering unerringly toward home.He gently patted the horse’s neck to show his appreciation.Since it was day, he stopped before riding down into the area where the entrance to the secret cave was located.There was no movement other than a few steers grazing on a distant hilltop and several hawks wheeling above him.Magpies called sharply to each other, hidden in the brush.Zorro felt increasingly weak and knew that he had to get home before he became so faint that he couldn’t stay on Tornado anymore.**

**The brush that hid the entrance of the cave beckoned invitingly to him and Zorro carefully ducked as Tornado walked through, almost gingerly, as though he realized the condition of his rider.The dim coolness of the cave caused Zorro to shiver lightly.He paused momentarily before carefully grasping the saddle horn and swinging his right leg over the saddle.He kept his hold on the horn until he felt his foot touch the rock floor of the cave, then his hand slipped as he pulled his left foot from the stirrup.He almost collapsed, but managed to grasp Tornado’s mane until the dizziness subsided.Then he slowly walked past the stallion and began the journey to his room, up two flights of roughly hewn stone steps.**

**The steps seemed formidable, huge things meant as barricades, not a pathway to peaceful rest.Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Zorro made his way into the secret room, then into his bedroom, jerking the mask down as he stumbled across the room.His knees buckled as he reached the bed and he sank to the floor, his hands grasping the bedding as though it could hold him up, but the coverlet only pulled toward him and he simply lay his head against the soft mattress.**

**=======================**

**Alejandro looked up from his cup of champurado at the approach of the _mozo_.“Bernardo, has Diego…awakened?” he signed, seeing another servant cleaning near the doorway.He tried to mask his worry, but didn’t succeed very well.Bernardo only shook his head, but he too looked worried.The other servant left the room and the older man looked around quickly and then murmured, “Go and check the cave again.It has been too long this time.”**

**With a nod, Bernardo did as he was told, slipping through the cabinet and into the secret cave.Pattering down the steps, he was relieved to see Tornado placidly munching on hay stolen from the pile in the corner.He sighed in relief and, with a smile, uncinched the saddle.Don Diego had returned home and was so tired he had simply gone up the stairs and gone to bed without taking care of the stallion or saying anything to anyone.While this was unusual, it had happened before.Bernardo reached up to grab the saddle and stopped with a gasp, his heart pounding.The entire saddle was coated with a dark substance.He carried it around the horse and laid it down near the lantern.Bernardo’s breath hissed audibly.It was blood!**

**In panic, the mute grasped the lantern and ran down the corridor, noticing the small smears on the steps.Just past the panel behind the sala, he found the cape lying in a heap.He reached the secret room and rushed through the small door to Don Diego’s room.His patrón was kneeling by his bedside, praying.No, it wasn’t prayer; Don Diego had collapsed in that position.Bernardo dropped down beside the younger man and looked him over in the late morning light.The shirt was pasted flat to his back.Gingerly, Bernardo shook his master’s shoulder and heard a soft moan.Don Diego’s hands tightened around the bedding and his eyes opened slowly, although they seemed somewhat glazed and remote.Finally they focused.**

**“Bernardo?” he asked softly.The servant nodded.“I…got careless…and paid for it,” he added.“Please help me into bed.I…I am so tired.”**

**Bernardo grasped Don Diego’s arm and helped him rise to his feet, struggling with most of the bigger man’s weight.Soon the wounded man was sprawled face down on the bed.With the prickle of tears stinging his eyes, Bernardo pulled off Don Diego’s boots, hat, bandanna and mask.Earlier in the morning he had poured fresh water into the washbasin in anticipation of his master’s return.He pulled it close to the bed.**

**He also had to get fresh linens for bandages as well.Don Diego was asleep right now, but his breathing was labored.He had to get Don Alejandro.Don Alejandro would know what to do.**

**First he went into the back room where the linens were kept and grabbed an armful.In the _sala_ , the old don was adding entries to the sales books, but looked up when he heard the _mozo_ enter.Gratefully, the servant noticed that Don Alejandro was alone.Evidently Bernardo’s face still showed his shock, as the older man paled and immediately dashed toward the outside door.As they ran up the stairs, Alejandro turned to the servant.“Is he hurt?”**

**Bernardo nodded and made motions indicating the severity of the injuries.**

**“He was shot?” Alejandro asked softly, his voice trembling.Again Bernardo nodded.Both burst into the room at the same time.Don Diego was in the same position that he had been when Bernardo had left.**

**Carefully the two men peeled off Diego’s sash and shirt.Bernardo ripped up some of the material and dipped it into the basin.“Oh, Diego,” Alejandro murmured as he, too, took some of the linens and tore them into strips for bandages.“Bernardo, get some medicines to help clean this.Quickly!”**

**Bernardo dashed through the door of the secret entrance.As gently as he could, Alejandro pulled away the makeshift bandage.Blood welled slowly up from the wound, bubbling slightly as though it was boiling in a pot.Coldest despair gripped the old man. _Surely this bullet went through a lung.It is amazing that he even made it home!_ he thought as he took a strip of the clean linen and tried to wipe away the blood, only to see it saturate the clean linen cloth.Taking another one, he simply pressed it against the wound, gratified when he heard the slight wheezing of Diego’s breathing ease.**

**Holding the cloth against his son’s back with one hand, he used the other one to pull a damp cloth from the basin of water.With it Alejandro gently wiped his wounded son’s brow.Diego moaned and tried to move.Alejandro held his hand firmly against his son’s back.“Do not move, my son.Bernardo is going for medicines.We will clean and bind the wound so that you will feel more comfortable,” the old man said softly, trying to reassure his son.He wished there was some kind of reassurance for him.**

**“But there is something I must tell you,” Diego said, pausing for breath.**

**“Son, lie quietly,” the old man gently admonished.“Just wait until you are feeling better then we can talk.”**

**“No, it is something that I must tell you now . . . while I can,” Diego insisted, his voice seemingly stronger.**

**Alejandro was alarmed at what he could only see as a deathbed pronouncement.“No, wait, my son.”**

**“I am not your son,” Diego stated.**  
  
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[**Chapter Seventeen**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories17.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	18. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Seventeen**

**A small chime sounded.Diego jerked up, surprised, muttering irritably about interruptions on the first night of their union.A slightly distorted voice announced over the intercom, “Your dinner.”Diego sighed, pulled the coverlet around the lower half of his body and went to the door.A crewman, who looked to be Rantiri, smiled and brought in a fairly large tray.It was filled with a variety of covered dishes and bowls, glasses and a bottle of some kind of drink.He laid it on the table near the bed.“Have a wonderful evening,” he said with an even broader grin and then turned and left.The door whooshed softly behind him.**

**Diego gazed resentfully at the tray, the door and then at Minta, who sat on the bed, the sheet pulled up seductively across her chest, smiling at her husband’s irritation.He sighed again, aggrieved that the heat of the moment had been lost, but as he gazed at his wife, he knew it would return quickly.**

**“Diego, you can’t eat with a coverlet around you,” Minta said with a soft laugh“Check in the closet and see if they left robes.Sometimes in honeymoon suites they do that.”**

**“And perhaps I do not wish to eat right now,” he said with a slight smile, finding almost nothing about which to stay irritated. He opened the tall narrow closet door and found two lightweight, identical robes, both of them white with gold trim around the cuffs and necks.He threw one over his broad shoulders, letting the coverlet drop to the ground.As he took the other one to Minta and helped her put it on, he admired again the slender softness of her body, the gracefulness of her fingers as they emerged from the ends of the sleeves.He kissed her shoulders as he drew the cloth over them, lightly ran one finger down her cheek as she was trying to tie the belt around her waist.**

**“Diego!” she admonished him lovingly, shivering at his touch.“Let’s eat dinner now, while it’s nice and hot.There will be a great deal of time afterward.”**

**“Very well,” he acquiesced, somewhat reluctantly.Suddenly his stomach agreed with her, growling loudly at the presence of so much food.Minta laughed musically and he laughed with her.He pulled the lids off the bowls and plates, sniffing each one.“This food smells much better than what I was given in the hospital on your world,” he stated.**

**Minta joined him at the table and glanced over the array of food.“Watch out for that one.It bites back.”She was pointing at a bowl with something that looked like soup.Small bits of vegetables floated in a dark brown stock.**

**Diego looked up, a puzzled look on his face.“Bites back?” he asked.“What do you mean?”**

**“I mean that it will burn the tongue and keep burning all the way to the stomach,” she explained with a chuckle.“They talked me into trying some when you were in the medical bay.”**

**Diego glanced at it again and then perused the rest of the meal.He pulled out the bottle that was resting in its own container, a small bucket of sorts.It was cold to the touch and tendrils of frigid air drifted upward like smoke.“This looks like vino, but why is it so cold?”**

**“Vino?” Minta asked.“This is a slightly alcoholic beverage called sitheril.It is used for celebrations and special occasions, especially unions.It’s supposed to be cold.”**

**“Then let us celebrate,” he declared, trying to find the cork to pull out.**

**Minta gently took it from his hands and squeezed at the top.What had looked to be a solid top separated and a lid popped off with a slight whooshing noise.She pointed to the small goblets that sat upside down on the edge of the tray.Diego reached for them and held them out for Minta to fill.The sitheril bubbled and fizzed, and to his utter astonishment, the drink changed color, lightening somewhat from its original deep, dark purple.He stared at his drink, wondering if it would change yet again.**

**“Diego, let us toast our life together,” Minta said, interrupting his examination of the sitheril.She held up her glass, gazing into the depths of the drink.He did the same and she moved her glass toward his until they touched.“To our lives together, filled with joy and love,” she said, continuing to gaze at the drink.The sitheril slowly changed, darkening until it was blood red and then it changed again, gradually, until the liquid in both glasses was a light rosy pink.**

**“What is the meaning of this change in color?” Diego asked, completely mystified at a drink that could change colors, bubble and be so very cold.It made him think briefly of a witch’s brew.**

**“It is supposed to reflect the moods of the celebrants and reveal their futures,” Minta explained.**

**It began to seem more and more like witch’s brew to him.“The future?”**

**“I think it’s mainly a legend, Diego.I don’t think it really does any such thing. It just picks up a little on emotions and the body heat of whoever is holding the glass and changes color when the air hits it.”**

**“Oh,” he said relieved, and deciding to play along.“And what does it say about our future?”**

**“The rosy color indicates a long and happy life together.Now, drink it quickly, my love.”Minta sighed and taking the small glass to her lips, drank it down in three gulps.**

**Diego did the same, feeling the cool drink become almost a fire in his throat.“I think I would prefer wine from a cask,” he said, coughing.“It is the food that is supposed to be hot in the stomach, not the drink.”**

**“Then try this, my dear,” Minta said sweetly, pushing the bowl of soup across the tray to him.**

**Taking a spoon, Diego dipped into the steaming mixture and tasted it.The flavor reminded him of soup from home, liberally mixed with shredded bits of dried beef and chilies.He glanced at Minta, who had the mischievous look of one expecting a reaction to something shocking.Then he took another spoonful. The various bits of what he presumed were vegetables added slightly differing tastes, but all in all, it seemed wonderfully spicy after the bland fare in the hospital.“Ah, maravilloso!” he said with a sigh.**

**Minta shook her head in amazement, and passed him a crusty roll.He broke off a piece and dipped it into the broth.She gazed at him, watching the movement of his hands, the lines of his face, his enjoyment of the moment.“Diego, tell me about your world.What is it like, this hacienda of yours?What are the people like?If they are all like you, it is paradise indeed.”**

**“Ai!You flatter me, querida.I am no santo.Some are better, some are worse, and there are some who are far worse.Why do you think Zorro came into existence?”Diego paused and looked down at the soup that he had been enjoying.He saw Minta in his mind’s eye as some of those worst members of his society would see her and tendrils of alarm whispered in his mind.The darkness of her skin would make a difference to some.Her eyes and hair would stand out as different, and to some different was bad.And her hands….For the briefest of moments he wondered if this was what had been bothering him…the thing that he could not figure out from his disjointed memories.Diego thought of his father and realized that, although he might not totally approve of his choice in marriage partners, he would support him and ultimately help Minta make the transition.With Father’s help, surely the other dons would come around, and the opinions of the peons did not matter in consideration of his wife.Looking back at his beloved Minta, he knew that nothing would come between them and eternal happiness.**

**“Diego, I saw concern in your face.What is wrong?” she asked, reaching over and gently touching his arm.“Did you remember something?"**

**“Yes, mi amor.I remembered that my world is not perfect and there may be difficulties for you.You are different and some are afraid of that which is different.I wish I had remembered more clearly before we were united.I do not wish anything to take away from your happiness.”**

**“Are you saying that you would not have united had you remembered these things?”She paused and looked deeply into his expressive green/brown eyes.“Diego, you saw how people looked at you on my world.No one did or said anything to you, but you were different and people noticed.When I realized that I loved you and determined to go to your world with you, I felt there might be problems.I knew when you assured me that it would make no difference; that it probably would.There are always those who will be afraid, and say and do things that are hurtful.Diego, to be with you, I will endure anything-- looks, words, anything.I only hope that my presence doesn’t cause you any problems.”**

**Diego took her hands and caressed them gently with his lips.“You cause me problems?Never!”He kissed her some more.“My father will welcome you.Bernardo will, too.”**

**“Oh, Diego, I can’t wait to meet them, but you still have to teach me your language, your customs and everything you remember about your world, your California.”**

**“Sí, I will be happy to do that, mi querida.The language is more…more musical than your own and should be easy to learn.And you will be the envy of the pueblo in a beautiful new dress and mantilla.It will be deep purple with…”Diego paused trying to think of the words to describe the trimming of a fancy fiesta gown.He finally made motions with his hands to indicate additions to plain material.**

**“I think you are talking about a fancy dress, yes?”**

**“Yes, and it will match the color of your eyes.”He paused, his mind picturing Minta in a splendid gown dancing with him at a fiesta.**

**She smiled, flattered by his words.“But right now, let us finish our dinner before it gets cold.”**

**They ate quietly, savoring the flavors of the different dishes.They also savored each other, each one pausing to gaze at the other from time to time, as though just the sight of the other was a fine and rich dessert.**

**“How long will we be on this ship?” Diego asked, breaking the shared silence.**

**“By the very nature of the kind of ship we are on, it will take longer to get to your world than it did for you to get to Rantir, Diego, but time will still pass quickly.That is why it is important for me to learn what I need to know.You must begin to teach me tomorrow.”**

**Diego pushed away the food remaining in front of him, taking her hands and pulling her toward him.“We can begin tonight, my dear.I can teach you how a proper Californiano treats his bride on the first night of their union.”**

**“Diego!!”**

**===============**

**“They united?” Gerol asked in astonishment, his eyes widening in disbelief.**

**“I expected it.They were attracted to each other.I could see that from the first time she took him for an outdoor excursion,” Jerintas explained.“They knew their time on board the ship was limited and our customs demand that a union precede cohabitation.I am looking forward to a thorough briefing with Minta, along with a complete examination.Her input, along with the samples from the Designated One, combined with the destruction of the Late Comer should make our dreams of racial viability a reality within a generation.”Jerintas gazed up at his assistant with a very pleased look on his face. _Yes,_ he thought, _things are going very well indeed._**

**Gerol nodded.“Have you read the preliminary reports on how to destroy the Late Comer, Director?I also added some other reports on the effects of the planet on our population.”**

**“Yes, I have and I read the other reports as well.It is interesting to note that the Late Comer seems to affect the males of our race more than the females.I knew that male sterility has always been a problem, but in context with our information about the Late Comer, it makes for an interesting pattern.Again, it seems incredible that our scientists didn’t put these clues together before now,” Jerintas mused.**

**“As you pointed out earlier, the medical problem of the Designated One was the catalyst, Director.”Gerol pulled a small packet of papers from the inside pocket of his lab coat.“And here is a paper written by Drin Horin of Altinada. It lists the various recovery procedures for official visitors to our planet. It is silent as to the reasons for the recovery procedures, but it is very explicit on the various medicines to be used depending upon the length of exposure to our atmosphere. As you can see, it is labeled as a top secret document,” Gerol explained as Jerintas looked over the papers.**

**“Yes, it is becoming clear to me that everyone in the universe seemed to know about our problem except us,” Jerintas commented sardonically.“By the way, I am impressed.How did you get a top secret document from Altinada?”**

**“I paid the right person, Director,” Gerol replied with a slight smile.**

**“Very good, Gerol.Now, I think we need to let Minta know about a unit that was left behind on the designee’s planet.It is only right that the Designated One understand that there are going to be a lot of people who think he is dead.”**

**“Do you think that will lead to renewed speculation about other worldly visitation?”**

**“If she briefs him well and he is as astute as he has shown himself to be thus far, I don’t think there’ll be lasting problems for us, especially if we can implement our plans on this end.Hopefully we will have reproducing couples before the Alliance digs that deeply.”He paused, frowning.“I will point that out to her, though.I certainly do not wish to further complicate the Designated One’s life.”Jerintas gazed at Gerol, his eyes suddenly uncertain.This had become much too complicated.Life had become too complicated, he thought.Aloud, he said, “There is nothing to be done about it now.We will see what Minta says when she gets back and then we’ll decide if further interference is necessary.”He paused again.“Thank you, Gerol,” Jerintas said as he began looking at the scientific reports.“I have read the various ideas for the destruction of the Late Comer.I tend to favor the plan that sends several smaller charges at the point of the planet’s furthest orbit, sending it out of the solar system.As soon as it reaches the outer periphery of the solar system, a larger charge will finish the job.”**

**“I agree, Director,” Gerol concurred.“All data seems to suggest that is the best option and the least dangerous one.We can modify a long distance shuttle to handle the radiation as the charges are placed.”**

**“Good, Gerol.Continue to let me know of any and all progress.I want this done as soon as it can safely be accomplished.”**

**The sub-director nodded and left.Jerintas sighed as he began composing his message for _The_ _Galactic Rover._ How could this Earthman, Diego figure out a way to resurrect himself when he returned?He hoped that his own optimistic statements would turn out to be accurate.**  
  
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[**Chapter Eighteen**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories18.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	19. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Eighteen**

**“You are delirious, my son.Please, be calm.Bernardo is getting something to help ease the pain and clean the wound.You will soon be feeling better,” Alejandro said soothingly, alarmed at his son’s declaration.He continued to keep a firm hold on Diego’s shoulder, keeping him from moving around.With his other hand, he kept pressure on the wound and was gratified to see that the bleeding had subsided.**

**“I am already feeling better because of your help.”**

**There was a slight pause and Alejandro thought that Diego might be dozing. _That, too, would be good_ , the old man thought.**

**But Diego was not asleep.He stirred slightly and said, “But I am not delirious.I am perfectly…aware.I am only tired.Very tired.”Another pause and then, “I think I might be more comfortable, might be able to breathe easier, on my side, por favor, _”_ Diego murmured.**

**While despondent over Diego’s chances of survival, Alejandro was still amazed at his son’s lucidity.According to what he had seen and what Bernardo had signed to him, Diego had to have lost a great deal of blood, but here his son was having a conversation with him.Carefully, he helped ease Diego from his stomach to his uninjured side.He did notice that as soon as he released pressure from the wound, the seepage of fresh blood began anew, although not nearly as profuse as before.Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pressed the bandage against the wound firmly and wondered again, how they were going to care for such an injury.Bernardo quietly opened the door and slipped in, several bottles in his arms.**

**“I am Rantiri,” Diego said suddenly.**

**“What??”**

**“The place where I… your son was kidnapped,” Diego said slowly, “…was not Hell.It was a spaceship.Nave espacio _._ ”**

**Alejandro was numb.His son was talking nonsense, his brain befogged by shock.He started to respond, but Bernardo quietly laid his hand on his sleeve and shook his head.His free hand signed, ‘Let him speak while we work.’Alejandro nodded and watched the servant open up two of the bottles and set them on the little stand next to the bed.The old _don_ motioned to the door and Bernardo walked over to lock it, assuring them of absolute privacy during this time.**

**“Diego, Bernardo is going to clean your wound now before we bandage it.That is all we can do until we can get Dr. Avila here.But it will be painful.”**

**“Your son was taken in the spaceship and I was left to take his place,” Diego said, seemingly oblivious to Alejandro’s statement.**

**For the moment, Alejandro only partially listened to the incomprehensible babblings.He watched as Bernardo wet a cloth with the potent astringent made from a mixture of brandy and local herbs.When the mozo was ready, Alejandro took away the bandage, but didn’t release his hold on his son’s shoulder.**

**“Your son is special.My people need him…AAHHH!” Diego’s body jerked and then he pushed his face into the pillow, effectively muffling his cries of pain.As Bernardo continued to wash the wound, Diego’s fingers clenched and unclenched, but no sounds emerged from him except for muted moans.Finally Bernardo finished, put the cork back into the bottle and poured some liquid from the other bottle on a clean bandage.Alejandro saw bewilderment in the face of his son’s mozo as they placed the bandage over the wound.It probably matched the puzzled look on his own face.Unbelievably, the bleeding had almost stopped.A faint ray of hope found its way into the old man’s heart and he saw the same hope in Bernardo’s eyes.**

**While Don Alejandro held the bandage firmly in place, Bernardo wrapped clean linens around Diego’s body to hold the compress in place.Thankfully, Diego had lost consciousness near the end of Bernardo’s ministrations.They eased his body into more of a sitting position, placing the pillows behind his head and back to make him more comfortable.Immediately, his son’s…. _But he said he was not Diego!Could he be telling the truth?No…impossible_! ….breathing eased.Alejandro was gratified to see Diego’s chest rise and fall in a more natural manner, his breathing sounding less harsh.**

**“Bernardo, you need to ride into the pueblo and get Dr. Avila.I will write him a note.Make sure that after he reads the note, you take it back.I do not wish it to be left lying around in case there are questions.I do not know what the doctor can do, but we have to try,” Alejandro said.Walking over to the little writing table, he pulled out paper, a quill pen and a tiny bottle of ink.Quickly, he penned an urgent note for the doctor to come to the hacienda.**

**While the ink was drying, Alejandro asked, “Bernardo, what do you think about what Diego told us?What kind of delirium is it that will cause the imagination to make up such things?”**

**Bernardo signed carefully as the old don watched.**

**“He has talked of spaceships to you, too?”Alejandro watched the mute sign and then shook his head.“It is still impossible.If this is not Diego, then where is my son?Why?”Sighing, Alejandro folded the letter, sealed it with wax and handed it to the servant.With a shrug, indicating that he, too, had no answers, Bernardo put the letter in his vest and slipped out the door.**

**Alejandro pulled a chair next to the bed.He noticed that one of the bottles on the table contained wine.Sniffing, he realized that Bernardo had the foresight to water it a bit for Diego to drink and he poured some into a small glass sitting on the nightstand.The slightest of sounds alerted him to the fact that his son was awake.**

**“Would it be possible to have some, por favor?” Diego asked softly.His face was drawn and ashen, his eyes testament to the pain he was feeling.**

**“Of course, Diego.”Alejandro held the glass while his son drank from it.**

**“Gracias,” he murmured when he had finished.He seemed to be struggling to stay awake.“Where is Bernardo?**

**“He has gone for Dr. Avila,” Alejandro answered.**

**“You do not believe me.”It was a statement.**

**“How can I, Diego?It is too fantastic.You are delirious.”**

**“Do you remember the behavior of the horses after the abduction?” asked Diego.**

**“Horses are often skittish.They smelled brimstone or something similar,” Alejandro tried to reason.He felt a gnawing inside of him.Bernardo had told him of Tornado’s similar reactions several days after Diego’s return.**

**“Do you remember my rustiness with the blade right after my return?” Diego asked.Alejandro nodded, the gnawing feeling growing into a hard knot of fear.“And do you remember when I said something in a language that you didn’t recognize?”**

**“Yes,” Alejandro answered, the hard knot of doubt continuing to grow in his chest.He was so confused, wanting to believe this fantastic tale, because to do otherwise would force him to watch his only son die.**

**“Did Bernardo tell you that I talked to him about spaceships?”**

**“Yes, he did.”Alejandro’s certainty was shaken, but not toppled.Then it came to him, the way he would know for sure.Diego had been slashed in a knife fight only the year before.There would be a scar on his left arm.Reaching down, he held up the wounded man’s arm and saw the smoothness of unmarred skin.His eyes opened wide in shock.This was not Diego.This was not his son!But how?And where was his Diego?**

**He watched the man on the bed pause to gather air into his ravaged chest. The man who looked identical to his son, who sounded like him, acted like him.“Who are you?”Alejandro’s words were soft, but they were like projectiles in their delivery.“And if you are not Diego, where is he?Why was he taken away?Why are you taking his place?How can you know so much about him that you would fool even me?What is the reason for all this and why are you telling me this now?To torment me?”**

**“No, I replaced your son to dispel the talk . . . about demons and visitors from other worlds . . . although just the presence of Zorro pretty much did that.”**

**“Why then?Why was he taken?”**

**Diego took a deep breath to speak and then he moaned.**

**Alejandro saw him shudder as a wave of pain coursed through his body.“Even though you are not my son, I am not so cruel as to force you to talk when it is painful.”Alejandro could see a conscious effort for control and saw his son’s will in that, too.**

**“A little more wine, please,” Diego asked.Alejandro poured some more wine and again held it for him as he drank it.“It is hard to explain,” the wounded man continued.“Despite some outward differences, my people and your people are very similar.But there is something that we needed, something that your son had within his body.”**

**Alejandro paled at the implications of that statement.“What….”**

**“No, he was not harmed.”There was a pause.“What he had in his body could be taken without hurting him.It is something in his blood.”**

**“Then why kidnap him, if all you needed was some of his blood?You could have taken some blood and then let him go,” Alejandro asked, his mind becoming more and more confused; despair filling his heart, anger and frustration following in quick succession.**

**Diego moaned again, softer this time.“I have…asked myself that question as well.Even I do not understand everything.”He paused.“The Rantiri are desperate.We are…not complete.Your son would make us complete.Hard to explain.”The eyelids closed, as though too heavy to stay open, and ‘Diego’ slept.**

**Alejandro stood and began to pace, wanting to cry out in rage. _Santa Maria!Why?What is going on?_ He looked at the person on the bed and wondered at all the unanswered questions.How could there be someone so identical to Diego that it would fool him? Why was this Diego telling him this?Would his son ever come home? _Dios, please bring my Diego home._**

**He paced some more and then decided that he had better put the mask back on Diego before the doctor arrived.He found where Bernardo had laid it and gently raised Diego’s head and placed it over his face, tying it in the back as best as he could.He added the bandanna.As if on cue, there was a soft knock on the door.**

**Going to the door, Alejandro cracked it open, and seeing Bernardo and the doctor, admitted them.Doctor Avila crossed the room and placed his ear against Zorro’s chest, listening alternately to both sides.Then with Bernardo’s help, he moved the injured man on to his right side so he could examine the wound.Zorro awoke and lay still, not saying anything.Seeing that his patient was awake, Dr. Avila began asking questions—about his breathing, how much blood he thought he had lost, how much pain he was experiencing, dizziness, weakness.Finally, after replacing the bandage and helping the wounded man back into a reclining position, he straightened up, shaking his head.“Señor Zorro, it amazes me that you were able to get this far from El Diablo’s camp.Your patron saint is truly looking out for you, because you really should be dead by now.It is very apparent that you lost a considerable amount of blood before ever reaching this hacienda.The paleness of your skin and your weakness is testament to that.It is also apparent that the bullet went through your left lung, breaking at least one rib on its way in.But what is truly miraculous is that I hear no stirring of air on the left side of your chest.It is as though the damaged lung has cut itself off.I am also astounded that the bleeding has almost stopped.The only bleeding that is occurring at all is that from the entrance of the wound, not the damaged lung. I have never heard of such a thing!There should be both the escape of air and profuse bleeding.However, I will not question whatever miracles God chooses to send to you.”**

**“Can you get the bullet out?” Alejandro asked.**

**“No, Don Alejandro.I have seen more gunshot wounds than I care to think about.The paths of musket or pistol balls are sometimes strange indeed.They do not travel in a straight line through the body; bones and flesh often deflect them.I believe that I would cause more harm than good if I tried to dig out that ball.I am pleased with his condition considering the nature of the wound.It is better than I or anyone could hope for.Perhaps if Señor Zorro is kept warm and quiet and given medicine to help relieve any pain he has, he might at least live, but the ball will have to stay until one better than I comes along.”**

**“Thank the Holy Mother for a bit of good news,” Alejandro said thoughtfully.Zorro continued to listen without saying anything.**

**“That is optimistic news, señor,” Avila corrected him.“You also have the problem of a wanted man residing in your house.If your servants are very trustworthy, I will give you two days before Sgt. Garcia is forced by duty to come out to your hacienda and check out the ‘rumors’ that will surely begin circulating.He shouldn’t be moved, but we cannot help what sometimes must be.”**

**“Thank you for your help, Doctor Avila.”**

**Alejandro watched as the doctor laid out several packets of medicine and listened as he gave instructions for their use.**

**“And Don Alejandro, please give my greetings to your son,” Dr. Avila said as he gathered up his supplies.**

**“I will, Señor Avila,” Alejandro murmured.**

**“Let me know if Señor Zorro comes down with a fever.That is my biggest worry right now.”Alejandro nodded and watched the doctor walk out the door behind Bernardo.**

**“You have many more questions, fa…Don Alejandro,” Zorro said quietly.“I will do my best to answer them.”**

**“Are you still in pain?” Alejandro asked.**

**Zorro shook his head, but then answered.“Yes, but it is not enough for the medicine.”**

**“How could you look so much like my son that you completely fooled myself and everyone else who knows Diego?”**

**“There is a part of me that is Diego.I said that there is something in your son’s blood that my people need.It was something similar that made it possible for me to look exactly like him.”**

**“I do not understand.You look to be Diego’s age.My son was abducted only months ago.”**

**“Before Diego was abducted, I did not exist.I was created to take his place and some of his blood cells were used to make me look like him.”**

**Alejandro gaped at the wounded man on the bed next to him.“Only God can create life.”**

**“Then God gave that ability to the Rantiri ancestors, because the entire population of Rantir is created,” Zorro said with a wan smile, which changed quickly to a grimace.**

**“You are speaking sacrilegiously,” Alejandro said tersely.Bernardo quietly slipped into the room and stood beside the bed.**

**Zorro sighed.He brought his hand up and rubbed his chest, and then he pulled the mask down.“I am very sorry.I did not mean it that way.But it is the truth.The Ancestors were given the power to create beings very much like themselves.They did so as they, themselves were dying out.The created Rantiri are the only thing left of the Ancestors.”**

**“I cannot understand all of this.Why are you telling me these things?It would have been easier, if you die…”Here Alejandro paused, not wanting to sound cruel or morbid, and also not wanting to wish death on anyone, even someone who had pretended to be his son for the past several months.Looking at his son’s ‘twin’ Alejandro saw that the wounded man didn’t seem disturbed by his words.In fact, he seemed quite serene.“If you die, it would have been easier for me to think that you are my son, and that he died honorably.”**

**“I understand and that was the original intent.My original directive was to make sure there were no lingering reports of visitors from other worlds.” Here Diego smiled.“…Even demons from other worlds, and then I was to die.But it was a quickly conceived and poorly carried out plan.Our leader didn’t take Zorro into account.He had no idea of your son’s great worth to your people here.”The effort of talking was finally catching up with the wounded man.He sat quietly, breathing shallowly.After a few minutes, he continued.“I am telling you this because I believe that your son will somehow find a way to come home.”**  
  
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[**Chapter Nineteen**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories19.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	20. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Nineteen**

**“Coming home?You think that Diego will come home?But you said that the thing which kidnapped him was a spaceship and that he was taken away.”Hope flared up in Alejandro’s heart as he tried to understand everything he had been told.It was impossible.The only thing that really mattered were the words, ‘Diego coming home.’**

**As Diego used his legs to push himself more upright, Bernardo and Alejandro leaned over and helped him.Even this seemed to exhaust him and he laid quietly, his eyes half closed.After a short pause, the wounded man motioned for some more wine.Bernardo quickly accommodated him.He laid his head back on the pillow, eyes closed, resting.After a moment, the face became more peaceful and relaxed.**

**“Do you feel up to having some beef broth?” Alejandro asked after a long hope-filled silence. He wanted to demand further explanation, cry out for more information now, but he had to be patient. The man had been shot in the back only twelve hours before.“It would probably give you strength.”Diego opened his eyes and nodded, studying him intently.Bernardo left the room immediately, not needing any further instruction.**

**“Yes, the part of me that is your son, tells me that he will someday come home.I was hoping to remain here, in this role until that happened.I was hoping to be here to give him his memories back…”**

**Dread again found residence in his chest.Alejandro walked to the balcony door and stared at its wooden panels for a moment, his eyes following the grain of the wood.So many emotions were churning inside him, fighting for ascendancy, bringing him hope one second, throwing him into the deepest pits of hell-spawned despair the next. _Dios, please help me to understand this. Santa Maria, watch over my son!_ he cried out in his mind.His thoughts were bleak and despondent.Drawing in a ragged breath, he turned to the man on the bed, not wanting to ask his question, but knowing he had to. “Give him his memories back?What do you mean?”**

**“Diego did not adapt well to his captivity.He broke out of his room three times in the two days after he had been kidnapped.”**

**“No, Diego never did like being shut in, whether it was in the house during inclement weather or at times when he was arrested falsely,” Alejandro commented morosely, aching for the suffering of his son.Diego would never have submitted willingly to such captivity.How could they expect otherwise?“And he would have tried anything to escape what he considered the pits of hell.”**

**“Yes, I know.I have his memories.I have the memories of the Rantiri leader as well.They were given to me when I was created.Your son’s memories were excised directly from his mind and given to me.This was done so that he would have no prejudices or prior experiences that would keep him from adapting to Rantir, so that he would remain sane and serve the purpose for which he was selected,” Diego commented sadly.**

**Horror crept in to reside at the same place in his heart with the anger and despair.Diego would remember nothing of his life, of his growing up, his mother or himself? _How could they be so cruel?How could they do that to my son?Holy Blessed Virgin!_ his thoughts screamed, wanting release.He looked down and saw his fists clenching and unclenching.“You…you mean if Diego returns, he will not remember his past, or anyone he knew?” he asked, hearing a quavering note in his voice.He did not want to hear what he knew this Rantiri was going to tell him.**

**“Yes, he would remember nothing; he will have been taught to live with my people.I am sorry.That is one of the reasons why I disregarded the directive I was given and was awaiting his return.As to why I feel that Diego, the Designated One, who has no memories of his past, would still make it back home, I cannot say for sure, only that the part of me containing your son’s memories and feelings tells me that it is so.Somehow he will return.Something deep inside him, something beyond his memories will guide him back.”**

**Alejandro stared deeply into the Rantiri’s eyes.There had to be something there, something that could give him hope, something that would help him to understand these people who ripped part of his life away from him.Only this man held the answers, this man who held the image and the…the soul of his son.He saw deep concern in those eyes, along with respect, and, yes, caring for those he had been serving these past months.Indeed, there was definitely a piece of his son in this look-alike.He felt the prickling of hot tears in the corners of his eyes and he turned away again, this time to stare at the fireplace.He blinked several times, feeling the confirmation of what this Diego was telling him.Yes, if there were any way possible, Diego would return.Sudden hot and flaring anger at the people, these Rantiri, who so easily used whomever they chose to use and then discard them when done with them rose in his chest.How dare they feel they could pick and choose, take what they wanted without regard to those they were taking from!He looked down and saw his hands trembling.He had to regain control.**

**Diego watched Alejandro de la Vega intently.He saw the intense hurt, the anger and despair waging war with hope in the man’s countenance.Hope seemed to be completely outnumbered.This man, for whom he felt a son’s love, hurt terribly and there seemed nothing he could do about it.Guilt for his own role in that hurt dug at him and caused him pain far exceeding that of his physical discomforts.**

**The door clicked open and Bernardo entered with a large bowl of beef broth.Alejandro turned and gazed at Diego briefly.“I will be right back.You eat this and rest,” Alejandro said woodenly, walking toward the door without waiting for an answer.He had to go somewhere else and think and try to understand all of this.**

**“Wait, Don Alejandro, there is one other thing,” Diego called out softly.Alejandro turned.“We have to cover for Diego.There has to be an alibi for his absence, perhaps an extended absence.”Alejandro just gaped at him, speechless.“ ‘Diego’ has to leave in the sight of the servants.He has to supposedly go somewhere far enough away that a prolonged absence will not be questioned.”Diego paused, trying to gather his thoughts.He felt much more comfortable, was in slightly less pain, and was able to breathe easier, but he was still so tired.He just wanted to sleep, perhaps forever.**

**Bernardo sat down on the edge of the bed, the bowl of broth in one hand and a spoon in the other.The rich aroma of the beef cut through Diego’s lethargy and he eagerly took several spoonfuls before he explained his plan.“Later this afternoon I will leave as Diego, telling any curious servants that Zorro has already left on his own.That will help curb any talk that Zorro is seriously hurt.”Bernardo shook his head and frowned, holding the spoon in front of his face again.Diego acquiesced and took some more.**

**“You can’t be serious!You are in no shape to do something like that!” Alejandro exclaimed.**

**“It has to be done.For your protection, for Diego’s when he returns, for Bernardo’s and for all of the servants in this hacienda.It would be devastating if Diego’s secret was revealed.”**

**“Maybe so, but you are too weak.”Alejandro paced in the confines of the room.“Ahh, you were always stubborn,” he exclaimed and then stopped and looked up, a stricken look on his face.“Will there be any of this left in my son?” he asked pointing to his heart.**

**“I cannot say for sure, but I think there will be.We have to protect that,” Diego said vehemently, ignoring the ever-present spoon.“Let me rest this afternoon, regain a part of my strength.Bernardo can prepare my riding clothes and my saddlebags.The servants can get my horse ready.When it is time, I will only have to walk down the stairs, talk a bit, mount and ride a short distance.Bernardo will have a carriage waiting in a safe place and he can drive me to the curandera’s house, in the guise of Zorro, of course.”Seeing Alejandro’s puzzled look, he continued.“She is discreet, she is a healer and she is remote.I think she can be trusted.She does not like the local authorities very much since some have harassed her in the past.”**

**“I do not like this,” Alejandro said.“I do not like the idea of you riding, nor of you going to the curandera.She might be trustworthy, but if you…”**

**“If I died?”**

**“Yes!” Alejandro said harshly, almost shouting, but restraining himself.Despite his anger and despair, this man had part of his son inside him and he cared for him.“She would wonder about Zorro’s death and someday she would say something, and that’s if she doesn’t give in and see who it is behind the mask.And when Diego comes back, she would wonder about the appearance of another Zorro.At least Dr. Avila held out a bit of hope for your recovery.He can continue in that belief.”He paced back and forth.“First of all, Bernardo always goes with you whenever you go on trips.He is your mozo, remember?Secondly, if you go anywhere, it needs to be the secret cave.We can fix a place off of the floor where you can recuperate.”He looked at the man on the bed and saw that he was too exhausted to even hear everything he was saying much less argue with him.**

**Bernardo’s persistence paid off and Diego took another spoonful of broth.“I do not like it either,” Diego finally said, his voice heavy with exhaustion.“I will…think on what…you have said.”He paused again. _So tired_ , he thought, _so very, very tired_.“If I can sleep for a few hours, I will be fine….”Diego finally gave in to his body’s demands and let his eyes close.Bernardo put the bowl of soup aside and pulled the blanket up around Diego’s chest.**

**Alejandro looked at the servant.“He’s right, Bernardo, it has to be done.But there will be modifications to his plan.You will leave the hacienda with him, but then you will bring him to the secret cave, whether he agrees to it or not.I believe that he will not be in any position to argue.”Bernardo nodded.**

**======================**

**Minta watched Diego as he worked out on a mat in a far corner of the exercise room.He had what he called a practice foil and was going through various motions, which seemed learned or rote, but were nevertheless graceful.The printout in her hand was all but forgotten as she watched his lithe body movements that showed brisal-like agility.Occasionally he would make small cries and leap forward with his foil outstretched, and then just as quickly, step back.**

**Finally she was standing not too far from the edge of the mat, but such was his intensity that he didn’t notice her presence.Sweat glistened on his face, and caused his exercise suit to stick to his body, accentuating the lines of his lean frame.She felt the excitement growing in her as she gazed at him, enraptured.Minta felt the presence of someone behind her and turned to see Dr. Klictis behind her, his large red eyes focused on Diego as well.**

**His mandibles began clicking softly.“What is Diego doing?” he asked.**

**“He calls it fencing.”**

**“It appears graceful, but between two people I can imagine it could be a very deadly form of fighting,” the doctor said.**

**Minta thought of Diego’s comments about Zorro and felt that this was practice for his role of the masked vigilante.In her mind she tried to picture someone fighting against Diego with one of those foils and she shivered slightly.Would she be able to hold up every night when Diego was out helping his…no, their people?She would have to, because this Zorro was as much a part of him as Diego was.He would never be able to sit idly by and see others suffer.Raising her chin, Minta determined that she would help him in any way she could, even if only by giving her loving support.**

**Finally Diego lowered the foil, took a deep breath and walked to the furthest edge of the mat where a towel and a carafe of water sat.Behind her Minta heard soft acclamations of appreciation and she turned to see that several other passengers had gathered to watch. As though suddenly realizing that he was not alone, Diego turned and saw his audience.His look of surprise changed to appreciation and he made a short salute to his watchers and a wink to her.His smile was one of realization of a task well done**

**Walking up to her, Diego took her hand and kissed it lightly.“Querida mia, how long have you been here?” he asked, his breathing only slightly fast.**

**“Not too long.That was magnificent, Diego…Eso era magnífico!” she repeated in Spanish.**

**“Ah, mi amor, you said that beautifully,” Diego said softly.“You will be speaking perfect Español within a week.”**

**“Sir,” a sibilant voice called.**

**Diego turned and saw an individual who stood about a head shorter than him, with blue downy hair sticking up on his head and round amber eyes gazing at him. “Yes?” Diego asked.His translator hanging from his belt clicked on of its own accord.**

**“I am Wis and where I come from we have a sport called Hurfix that is somewhat similar to what you were doing.I am disembarking in seven day cycles, but I would like to practice with you before we leave the ship, if you are so inclined,” the alien said. “Perhaps we can teach each other.”**

**“I would be honored, señor.I believe that we are leaving this ship at that time as well,” Diego answered, delighted to have some real practice.“Let us decide on a time that is best for both of us.”**

**Wis bowed.“I will contact you…you are?” he paused, waiting.**

**Diego gave Wis his name, and with a bow of his own, excused himself, putting his arm around Minta’s waist and walking with her out of the room.“You have a note in your hand.Is it anything important?”**

**“A communication from Jerintas.Apparently he had decided that someone should take your place to dispel any hints of otherworldly visitation.”**

**“Take my place?” Diego asked, confused.“How could someone….?”Diego suddenly stopped, his face becoming pale.**

**“Diego, what is it?”Minta saw a brief flash of the same panic that had struck him at the spaceport.“Diego, please, what’s wrong?What are you seeing?”She guided him to a small table where they sat down.He seemed oblivious to his surroundings.His eyes were focused elsewhere, had a haunted look in them.**

**When he began speaking, it was in a voice only slightly above a whisper.“I remember . . . wh . . . when I was kidnapped, there was a room with many machines.Some of your people were there.I was tied to a moving table or metal bed.There were lights, bright lights.There was someone in charge who stood over me.Then there was another moving table brought into the room and put right next to mine.I looked at the person who was lying there and saw . . . myself.He was like a twin.He looked exactly like me.He just stared at the ceiling, not moving, not blinking his eyes, not saying a thing.”Diego finally looked into Minta’s eyes.“That was when I knew there was no hope.I was helpless to do anything.I knew I would be just like that….”**

**“Oh, Diego,” Minta murmured. “A unit was created that looked just like you.He didn’t have your memories in him yet.”She took his hands and laid them against her cheek.He had known even then.Deep inside he had realized that the life he had known was about to end.Tears sprang to her eyes and ran down her cheeks.**

**“Then the person in charge stuck a needle in my arm and I felt sleepy.I don’t remember anything else until I met you,” he concluded.He looked up into her eyes, saw her tears and pulled himself from his horrific memories.Pulling one hand out of Minta’s grasp, he wiped away her tears.“But then I met you…”he said, his voice still soft, but less morose, more happy.Leaning over, Diego kissed her tenderly, then as she moved into his kiss, he kissed her more passionately.“And we will meet this twin?”**

**“No, he was given the directive to allow himself to die when his job was accomplished.We will be going back to a place that thinks you are dead,” Minta told him reluctantly.**

**Diego’s stricken look told her that he fully understood the implications of that directive.“No! Father and Bernardo will think I’m dead.They will be suffering believing that they buried me!”**  
  
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**[Chapter Twenty](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories20.htm) **  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	21. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty**

**An hour before sunset, Diego finally awakened.Refusing any food or drink, he insisted that Bernardo help him sit up on the edge of the bed.Diego’s fingers clutched his shoulder almost painfully, as the mozo checked the bandage and then eased him into a clean white shirt.This man, who, by his own admission was different than him or others in the pueblo, for whom the wound didn’t seem quite as serious, was nevertheless suffering.Bernardo’s heart ached for him.The afternoon of sleep had done little to rejuvenate him.It seemed impossible for this plan to succeed. _But then he has the original Diego’s willpower and determination.Only the_ santos _know what will happen_.**

**He motioned for Diego to lie back down again and then he carefully pulled off the blood stained black pants, and undergarments, and then pulled on clean garments.Unbuttoning the suede riding calzoneros almost all the way up both legs, he pulled them on and buttoned them up. Bernardo then helped the injured man into a sitting position. The suede riding jacket came next.His patrón began buttoning it up, but Bernardo gently pulled his hand away, chastising him before quickly fastening the chaqueta.**

**“Ai, you took me at my word, Bernardo.I will let you deal with the clothes,” Diego said with a wan smile. He sat quietly as the servant loosely tied the banda around his waist.When Bernardo was finished, Diego murmured, “Now we have the real test.Help me on my feet.”**

**Bernardo shook his head, motioning him to stay still while he gathered a broken-in, comfortable pair of riding boots from beside the wardrobe.Only when the socks and boots were on his patrón’s feet did the mozo allow Don Diego to slowly slide off the edge of the bed and stand.Diego’s eyes were tightly closed and his hand was gripping the servant’s shoulder firmly.Bernardo could see the intense concentration on his patrón’s face.**

**When he finally opened his eyes, Diego also released his grip on Bernardo’s shoulder and took several tentative steps.He held his shoulders stiff and square, turning as little as possible, and he was a little more pale than usual, but otherwise there was nothing in his countenance that showed how very badly he had been hurt.“Shall we get this over with?” he asked softly.**

**Bernardo nodded and picked up the packed traveling bags that were by the door, his and his patrón’s _._ Signing, he indicated that he was going with him, just as he would on any other trip.**

**“But how will you explain coming back alone?” Diego asked, leaving future possibilities unsaid.**

**The fingers signed, ‘I will think of that later, if there is a need.'**

**Don Diego nodded, “It is for the best, I suppose.I do not know how much strength I have.Perhaps the amount of a newly born kitten?” he asked with a wan smile.He walked slowly toward the door, becoming more sure with each step.**

**Bernardo was amazed and began wondering if this man was truly going to pull off this charade.Nodding, he hurried to the door and opened it.Slowly, deliberately, but without any indication of discomfort, Diego walked out of the door.With one hand on the railing of the balcony, he made it to the stairs and began the long journey down to the patio.Don Alejandro waited at the foot of the stairs, his face a study of not quite hidden anxiety.**

**“Patrón!We have your horse saddled and ready.Are you going to be in San Diego long?” Pepito called out from the doorway of the patio, his bright smile stretching from ear to ear.**

**“It depends on how long it takes me to find the right breeding stock, Pepito,” Diego said, a quick smile on his own face.His steps on the stairs never faltered.**

**“Don Diego, it is said that El Zorro was here…that El Diablo had injured him,” Pepito said, now standing next to Don Alejandro.Bernardo couldn’t help but be amused at the speed with which the servant’s grapevine worked.**

**“Sí, Pepito, he was here.I was helping to take care of him, but he has since gone.He was injured, but not too badly,” Don Diego explained.**

**“Thank the santos!” the boy exclaimed.“Someone had said that Zorro was dying.Mi madre and I have been praying and lighting candles in the chapel for him.”**

**Bernardo was a bit alarmed when Diego stopped before he reached the bottom of the stairs.“That is good, Pepito.Although Zorro was well enough to leave, he can always use the prayers of such as you and your mother.He would appreciate it, too, I am sure,” the patrón said quietly.Bernardo realized that the exercise of faith by this servant boy and his mother had touched this Diego.The young man continued down the stairs, and grasped Don Alejandro by the shoulders.“I will send word of my progress, Father,” he said, jovially.Bernardo, knowing what to look for, knew it was forced.To others, though, it appeared that Don Diego was genuinely happy.“I will send Bernardo home to let you know what I have found out.”**

**“Vaya con Dios, Diego,” Don Alejandro said huskily.Diego then walked out of the gate that Pepito held open for him.His palomino stood placidly, chewing on his bit.**

**With almost no hesitation, Diego reached for the saddle horn and placing his left foot in the stirrup, swung up on the gelding, his lean frame settling easily into the saddle.**

**Bernardo hurried and mounted his roan.Diego turned his horse around, smiled and gave a short salute; then eased his palomino into a canter.Bernardo followed, watching the injured young man carefully.The canter continued over the hill that now hid them from the watching eyes of those at the hacienda.The mozo tapped his horse with his heels, urging him forward to catch up with the horse in front of him.On the road ahead were several vaqueros. _Cursed luck,_ Bernardo thought.Another hill was negotiated and this time the road was empty.Bernardo noted the ashen look on Diego’s face and knew that the young man had very little stamina left in him.This charade would have to end soon.The mozo pointed to a thick stand of brush and trees several hundred feet from the road.Slowly Diego eased his horse off the trail and toward the indicated refuge.Bernardo scanned the road ahead of them, making sure there was no one to see their activities.When he turned back to his patrón, he was horrified.No longer was the wounded man sitting straight and tall.His body slumped forward until he was almost lying on the horse’s neck.**

**With a quick burst of speed from his horse, Bernardo was almost instantly at the gelding’s side, examining Diego.He noted that the wound had begun bleeding again and the lower half of the chaqueta was beginning to stain black in the deepening twilight.Diego turned his head and gazed at him, slowly pushing himself upright, his look one of relief.In a barely audible voice, he said, “I was hoping to make it all the way…”**

**Bernardo reached over and touched the younger man’s lips with his finger, admonishing him to not speak.It did not matter that this man was not the real Diego.He had acted as Don Diego would, he had sacrificed as his patrón would, and he felt deep loyalty, sympathy and empathy from this man for himself and all of the people of California.That was enough for him.Until the real Diego returned home, this was his patrón, his master, and his friend.**

**Diego didn’t argue, only watching Bernardo through half closed eyes.Adroitly the mozo slid out of his saddle and sat behind Diego, reaching around with one hand for the reins and holding his patrón’s body with the other arm.Slowly he walked the palomino to the secret cave, his own horse following placidly behind.**

**The night was totally black and the stars were shining brightly in the moonless sky by the time the pair reached the entrance of the cave.Diego had slipped into total unconsciousness, making it difficult for Bernardo to hang on to the larger man.Inside, he saw Don Alejandro, whose face was drawn with anxiety.“Bueno, Bernardo.I have fixed as good a bed as I can with fresh hay and blankets.I also brought down all the medicines and a basin for fresh water.”The older man kept Diego from falling while Bernardo slid off the back of the gelding.Then both men carried him to the hastily made pallet.**

**Two lanterns illuminated the area while Bernardo stripped off Diego’s chaqueta and shirt.Don Alejandro pressed his ear against the younger man’s chest.“Santa Maria, he breathes so shallowly and he has begun bleeding again,” Alejandro murmured.Bernardo felt Diego’s forehead and then motioned.“No fever?Good, that is one thing in our favor,” Alejandro murmured.**

**As Bernardo changed the blood soaked bandage, Don Alejandro tried to make the pallet more comfortable, building the hay up under his head and shoulders to help the wounded man breathe easier.Finally as they were pulling on a clean shirt, Diego began to stir.Moaning softly, he opened his eyes and gazed at Bernardo.“We made it?I do not . . . remember getting here.”Then he looked around the cave, with its flickering shadows and dark walls.The eyes had a bewildered look in them.“I thought I was going to the curandera’s house,” Diego said.**

**“We discussed this, Diego,” Don Alejandro explained patiently.“This is the most secure place you could stay in.This cave is so remote that even I was unaware of its existence until last year.No one will ask questions and it is close enough for Bernardo and I to take turns caring for you.”**

**“But…”**

**“I will not argue.You are staying here.”**

**Diego’s eyes seemed to lose a bit of the bewilderment that had been in them when he had first awakened.He gazed at the two men, and then his face broke into a slight smile.“I remember now and I concede, Don Alejandro.But it’s cold in here.”**

**Don Alejandro gazed up at the dancing shadows on the ceiling of the cave.Bernardo was familiar enough with the man to realize that the old don was struggling with his emotions.“Diego, I want you to continue to call me Father.There is too much of my son in you to do otherwise,” Alejandro said, his voice husky with emotion.“Only my son would have done what you just did.And do not think that I am unmoved by what you did by disobeying your leader.”**

**“Gracias… Father.”Diego paused, resting.“The first time I said that word, it confused me; it was both familiar and strange.Now it is strange not to use it,” he added, meaningfully.**

**Alejandro cleared his throat.“As to being cold…that is easily taken care of with an extra blanket.I must go make an appearance or else the servants will begin to wonder where I have disappeared.I will return later.I have instructed Bernardo to give you some of Dr. Avila’s pain medicine.You will not argue with him,” he said sternly.**

**“Yes, Father,” Diego said meekly, smiling slightly as Bernardo poured the dark mixture into a spoon and held it for him to drink.As the old don turned and walked toward the steps, Diego was already falling into restful sleep. Bernardo unfolded another blanket and laid it over his patrón, tucking it up under his chin.Throughout the night, he alternately sat by the young man’s side and brushed and cared for Tornado.Don Alejandro came and went, sometimes sitting near Diego, sometimes pacing.Finally Bernardo was able to convince the old don to try and get some sleep.**

**He led the stallion into the little box canyon an hour or so before the rising of the sun and let the chill breezes hit his face.Did he dare to hope that Don Diego could actually survive this horrible wound?His prayers had been in his heart for so long, since Don Diego’s abduction.He had felt something amiss when this Diego had returned, but was unable to understand exactly why.He had prayed continually, supplicating the Blessed Virgin on behalf of his patrón and friend, little knowing that he was asking for help for two people, not just one.He prayed now, asking that this man be spared as well.Leaving the stallion to run and kick in his little corner of freedom, he returned to the cave, lighting another candle and placing it in its niche in the wall.He turned to Don Diego and found him watching him.**

**‘How do you feel?’ he signed.**

**“Somewhat better.Not quite as tired, I think,” Diego answered.**

**Bernardo smiled, the first time since before Zorro went out to find El Diablo.He signed again.**

**“Hungry?Yes, I think I am, a little bit,” Diego answered.Bernardo signed again.“I will be all right, you go on.Do what you need to do.”**

**Bernardo scowled and signed again.‘You will not try to get up or move around!’**

**“No, Bernardo.I promise.”**

**‘Do you have pain?’ the fingers asked.**

**“Yes, but not like last night.But no more medicine until you have brought me some of Juanita’s soup.Perhaps she has used some squash?” Diego asked hopefully.Then he laid his head back on the hay and closed his eyes.“I will not go anywhere,” he murmured softly.**

**Touching the young man’s forehead, Bernardo was relieved to feel no heat of fever.With a lighter heart, he went up the steps and into Diego’s room.He saw Don Alejandro, leaning against the balustrade of the little balcony, his head in his hands.The old man’s body shook with what the mozo could only assume was silent sobbing.At the servant’s light step, however he turned.“How is he?” Don Alejandro whispered softly. There was evidence of tears, quickly wiped away.Before Bernardo could answer, the older man turned back to the hills that were beginning to glow with the light of the rising sun.They seemed burnished with gold.“This is so confusing.I see him and I see Diego, but I hear what he has to say and I know he is not my son.I love him, Bernardo.I love the spirit that resides in him.I know that my real son is out there somewhere, maybe lost and struggling to come home, maybe not even knowing who I am.You cannot imagine the pain that thought gives me.”Bernardo stepped closer to the old hacendado.“What will I do if he dies?I will keep hoping for the return of my son, but what if he doesn’t come?What will I do?”**

**Bernardo touched the old man’s sleeve and signed to him, ‘God will provide the answer.’**

**Don Alejandro turned and gazed into the mozo’s face.There was a fire in his eyes that was part anguish, part grief, and part anger.“Is this God’s answer then, this pain, this suffering?What happens when Diego comes home, Bernardo?How do I give him memories of feelings and emotions?How do I return the connection that he and his mother shared?How do I begin to return what we shared?”He paused, wiped his eyes with his sleeve and then continued, “How do I return the thoughts, the feelings, the deep convictions that caused him to become Zorro?How do I do that?”**

**Bernardo could not say anything.**

**“And you . . . were with him only part of the time he was in Madrid.“How do we give him back what neither of us know about,” Don Alejandro asked, his voice rising slightly in his despair.“He will not be the same, Bernardo.He will be, but there will be pieces of his soul gone, pieces that can never be replaced.”**

**‘We must trust and believe that God has an answer and a way,’ Bernardo repeated.**

**Don Alejandro stared at the hills, pulling in the early morning air as though it would clear his head.Then he sighed and smiled wanly.“Yes, I suppose that you are right, Bernardo.God will provide us with what He thinks is best for us.Thank you, Bernardo, that gives me hope,” he said, although the servant didn’t think that Don Alejandro believed it yet.Both men stood watching the sun add color to the hills.**

**Bernardo motioned the news of the injured man’s lack of fever.**

**There was a slight flickering of hope on the old man’s face.“I will go down to the kitchen and tell Juanita that I want some soup this morning, not porridge.Then I will bring it down.I will take care of him for a while so you can sleep.”Bernardo nodded and returned to the cave.**

**Alejandro took the soup to his room and slipped through the secret passage.When he entered the chamber where Diego was sleeping, he saw him resting peacefully.As he approached, though, the younger man opened his eyes and regarded him sleepily.**

**“Bernardo tells me that you are feeling better,” Alejandro began, feeling somewhat awkward.**

**“Yes,” Diego answered.**

**“No more stunts like that one yesterday evening,” Alejandro admonished.**

**“No, no more stunts,” Diego agreed, slipping back into sleep.**

**Alejandro sat quietly beside the sleeping man, enjoying the coolness of the cave, listening to the tranquil murmur of water in the outer chamber of the cave. He could hear that Diego’s breathing was easier and that not only gave him comfort, but also hope.Throughout the day the two men took turns watching the injured man.Most of the time Diego slept, but while he was awake, Bernardo drew a chessboard in the dust and used different colored and shaped stones for the various pieces.Diego won most of the games, laughing softly when the mozo shook his head in self-disgust.Near evening, Bernardo brought down Diego’s guitar and played tunes he had learned in Spain.The night brought more rest, pain free and comfortable, and Alejandro found himself dozing against a saddle as his son slept.**

**He awoke suddenly the next morning, soft moans infringing on his sleep.In alarm he moved closer to Diego and felt his forehead.He was hot with fever and the old man choked off a bitter utterance.His greatest fears were realized, infection had set in, swift and virulent.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-One**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories21.htm)  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	22. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty- One**

**Diego sat on the mat, looking dourly at the blue haired creature standing above him.Never in all his days of fencing had he been bested like this.Taking the alien’s outstretched hand, he stood up and faced Wis.“You do not fight by the proper rules of dueling,” he stated.**

**“We never established the rules of our practices.I am fighting by the rules of Hurfix and you are apparently fighting by the rules established on your world,” Wis said sedately.**

**Diego pondered and then the humor of the situation struck him.His sudden smile turned into a full-throated laugh.Wis cocked his head to the side and then smiled, showing rows of tiny sharp teeth, much like those of cats.“Right you are, Señor Wis.I think it might be a wise thing if we taught each other the rules of the other’s sport.I am most eager to learn this very physical type of fencing,” Diego said when he stopped laughing.**

**This smaller person had been a dynamo of fists and feet, using his short epée-like sword very seldom.The chunky body belied an agility that had amazed Diego and thwarted his every thrust, advance and riposte.**

**With a great deal of patience, Wis began teaching Diego the various body movements that were part of Hurfix, the explosive kicks and turns that demanded great concentration and stamina.Within the next several days, Diego felt he had mastered most, blending them with the exercises Wis taught him that helped him to focus on each move that his body made, even his breathing.Muscles that had become slack and weak during his time on Rantir become toned and firm once more.He felt a great affinity with this master of alien fighting and wished they could have met earlier during the trip.**

**“Diego, there never was such a thing as a weak or flabby muscle on your body,” Minta said as they lay in bed the night before their departure from the ship.As though emphasizing her point, she slid her hands down his arms and then back up his chest.“But I will have to admit, you are even more solid now,” she said with a grin.She laid her head on his bare chest and sighed.“We will be leaving on the shuttle in just one more day cycle.This has been wonderful,” she murmured, delighting in the soft whisper of air in and out of his lungs.“I almost wish it could have lasted forever.”**

**“My darling, it has been wonderful, but I will be very happy to be home. I need to be home.I wish for you to be happy there as well,” he said in Spanish, stroking her soft, white gold hair.Despite the fact that he had become accustomed to this space ship and all within, Diego also felt a sense that he simply didn’t belong.As his memories returned, he found himself dreaming more and more of the rolling hills, sunshine and people of California.**

**“Querido _,_ ” she whispered, reverting to his language, picking up on his subtle hint.“I know I will love your world.Everything you have described, the pictures you have painted with your words, it sounds so very beautiful.And the songs that you have sung to me...”She sighed.**

**“I only hope that Father and Bernardo have not had too much time to grieve.That is the only thing that I feel badly about; that they would think that I have been dead for all this time,” Diego said, sighing.**

**“You described some of the ceremonies on your world.Have you thought of what you are going to say to explain your sudden appearance if there has been a big… um, what do you call it…funeral?” she ventured.**

**“No, I really haven’t.I thought we would arrive secretly in my hidden cave and discuss this with Father before making an appearance.That will give him time to meet you as well.”**

**“I am afraid that somehow the kidnapping by demons story is going to be the only way to explain it.The made-up tale will not be too far from the truth, without the part about visitors from other planets, of course,” Minta said.“Jerintas really put us into an awkward situation.”**

**“I do not like the idea of using the demons story,” Diego said, his body tensing.**

**“But you have to admit, I am the demon who brought you home,” Minta said with a slight smile.**

**“NO!” he said in heated emotion.“We will not use that story! If there were descriptions of my captors at the time of my kidnapping there would be those thinking that you are a demon.No, we will think of something else, Minta.I have had time to understand the existence of other worlds, God’s other creations like your world, but there is a Hell, and Lucifer’s minions, his demons, inhabit it.It is a place of torment and pain.It is real to me and it is real to my people on my world.We must be careful not to give anyone the idea that you might be one of those demons.Once everyone knows you and learns the kind of person you are, we can relax,” Diego said, a note of finality precluding any further discussion of the matter.**

**Minta leaned over and kissed him lightly on the forehead, her finger delicately tracing the line of his frown.“I think I understand,” she murmured.**

**With a sigh of appreciation, Diego drew his wife close to his chest, caressing her and feeling the smoothness of her willowy body against his.**

**“If our first child is a boy, we will name him Alejandro, in honor of my father.If a girl, Maria Isabella in honor of my mother and dead sister,” Diego declared after they had lain together quietly for a while.**

**Minta drew back slightly.“But how do you know I will have children, my love,” she asked.“There have never been any births among the Rantiri units.That was your purpose on Rantir.To help our race become viable.”**

**“Hmm, I forgot about that,” Diego murmured.**

**Minta could hear the disappointment in his voice and it pierced her, realizing just how important children must be to him.**

**After a short pause he added, “We will still be happy.”**

**“Oh, Diego. I am so sorry.I…I did not think of that when we were united.”**

**“Now who is talking about whether we would have married or not.It does not matter, Minta.I would still have formed the union with you.If the santos allow, by some chance, a miracle, you will be a great mother.If not, you still will be.We will take in children and give them our name.Señora de la Vega, I love you and nothing can change that,” Diego said, whispering in her ear.**

**As Minta felt herself enveloped in his arms, she wondered just how much disappointment he was hiding, but she let that thought drift away as he continued to caress and touch her, expressing his deep love for her.**

**========================**

**“No, no more,” the Rantiri Diego said weakly, turning his head away from the glass containing the mixture of fruit juice and medicine.**

**“My son, you must.You have had nothing yet today,” Alejandro said, his countenance filled with undisguised despair.**

**“No, I have fought to live for….How long has it been?Seems forever.”**

**“Six days ago.You were shot a little over six days ago,” Alejandro said woodenly.**

**“I have done what you asked.I have fought for six days.I am dying.I am too tired to fight any more.”Diego turned his fever bright eyes on the older man, hoping for understanding.He only saw sadness and despondency.“Thank you for trying.”He closed his eyes to concentrate on fighting the nausea and dizziness that swept through his body.He heard Tornado moving around, the clopping of his hooves almost musical against the stone floor of the outer chamber.Slowly he drew in breath, feeling the sluggishness of his remaining lung, knowing that he had developed pneumonia.It was all he could do to keep from coughing.It was all he could do to lay still and keep the pain from tearing through his chest.**

**He opened his eyes and saw a tear sliding down the sun darkened cheek of the one he considered Father.He laid his hand on the older man’s sleeve.“It was good for me to be created for this purpose.I have had what no other Rantiri has had.”He paused, struggling to pull in more air.**

**“What, my son?” Alejandro asked huskily.**

**“I have had a father,” Diego answered and sighed. _Would that all the Rantiri could experience this special relationship.Yes, it was worth all this pain,_ he thought, contented.**

**“And you have held my son’s soul well.You have carried it nobly.I can say that I have had two sons,” Alejandro said softly taking hold of Diego’s hand.It was so hot and dry.It had been such a hard struggle, and while they had lost, he felt he had also won.This Rantiri had worn the guise, the mantel of Zorro and Diego well.He was proud.He only hoped that there was enough left of his real son to give all of that back.He only hoped that he could truly get his Diego back.His heart wrenched in agony.Even though this was not his real son, the pain of this man’s death was almost overwhelming.Alejandro fought to keep from showing more emotion.**

**Diego remembered the time just before he left the ship, after he had received the memories of the Designated One, after he had been taught how to control this body.He had discreetly visited the host of his memories.The real Diego de la Vega lay serenely in a bed, his eyes open, but not really aware of what was around him.He was still amazed at his newly created body, still awed by the assignment that had been given to him, and still trying to assimilate all of the Rantiri memories that had been implanted in him as well, reconciling them with those of the man on the bed.**

**Suddenly, Diego de la Vega had turned his head and looked at him, his stare blank for the most part.There was something that made him uneasy, though.There was something behind that veiled and vacant look.Suddenly it came to him; there was inquiry and curiosity.Diego understood now.There was something left, something that was still Alejandro’s son.**

**He brought his focus back to the present and the man who was still holding his hand.He gazed into the tear-obscured eyes and opened his mouth to speak, but to his shock, nothing came out.He couldn’t get enough air to make sounds; he couldn’t speak.It was important to tell Alejandro that he knew his son would still have something of his ‘soul’ inside him when he returned.But he couldn’t.He felt tears of frustration form in the corners of his eyes, but all he could do was gaze into the eyes of the man next to him.**

**Then he realized what he had somehow already known in his heart . . . the real Diego de la Vega would come back and he would have in his soul the part of himself that made him what he was.Somehow, his people had not stripped everything away.He only wished he could tell Alejandro de la Vega this to ease the pain that this man . . . this father was feeling.But eventually, he would come to know that, too.The inner drive, personality, and, yes, the spirit that resided in Diego de la Vega had partly come from Alejandro de la Vega.With that realization came relief and surrender from anxiety and frustration.He smiled.**

**Diego heard Bernardo playing softly nearby; he could see the tears streaming down the mozo’s face and he wished he could say something to comfort him.His chest refused to take in air, his heart seemed to hammer, yearning for oxygen, and then it began to relax.The cave seemed very dark.One of the lanterns must have gone out.He felt his heart still, his pain disappear. _Blessed Virgin, I thank you,_ he thought. _It was good to do this, to be this man, to be a part of his world._ The room darkened until it was black and then the only thing he was aware of was the sweet and soft sound of Bernardo’s guitar playing.It swirled him into the oblivion of memories borrowed and then into nothing….**

**Alejandro felt the hand in his hand go slack, and the old don checked for a heartbeat and for evidence of breathing.He found nothing.Gently, he closed Diego’s eyes, feeling comfort in the fact that there was a smile on the young man’s lips, that he had apparently died content and pain-free.He looked up and realized that Bernardo had stopped playing.His eyes asked the question, knowing already what the answer was.**

**“Yes, he is gone, Bernardo.He fought well, but he has gone.”Alejandro looked back down at the dead man at his feet.Biting back a sob, he thought in despair, _He has gone and taken my son’s memories with him.My son’s soul.How can Diego come back?What will bring him back? Isabella, what am I going to do?You are gone; Diego is gone.I am left alone._ His chest constricted, tightening with a fear of sorrow and loneliness that threatened to overwhelm him.A tear escaped from between his tightly closed eyelids and slid down his cheek.**

**Then he remembered what this Diego had told him.His son would return. _But how?_ By having enough left inside his soul to be guided back here to his home. _Maria Isabella, watch over our son.Wherever he is, bring him back._ The pain eased a bit and he opened his eyes. There was much that had to be done now.There was no time for self pity.This gallant warrior from another place needed to be properly laid to rest. **

**The mute gently laid down the guitar and want to the little niche in the wall where he had kept a candle burning for much of the almost six months since Diego had been kidnapped.“Please light one for me, too, Bernardo,” Alejandro said quietly, laying Diego’s hands on his chest.“I wish there was a way for him to have had the Extreme Unction….”But there was.He had done that very thing when his infant daughter, Maria Isabella had died.It was late in the night, too stormy for the priest to get to them, so he had said the words.“Bring me fresh water in a clean bowl, Bernardo.”As soon as the mute had done so, he sprinkled a few drops on the still warm brow and said the words that would make him a member of the Holy Church, adding the name Rantir to the end of his name.Then he said the words that would send a soul to the hereafter in comfort.He hoped that this worthy substitute would feel comforted.He, himself, certainly did.“And we will bury him the best we can in the dignity that befits a hero such as he was; such as befits a de la Vega.”He felt wetness in his beard, but didn’t bother to wipe it away.**

**Bernardo waited until Don Alejandro was done and then pulled another candle from the little box he kept nearby.When the two candles were lit, Alejandro felt something was missing.Finally, “Light another one for Diego, too.He would appreciate what this man did for him.”**

**Without speaking, Alejandro went up the secret stair and into Diego’s room.He gazed at the fireplace, the bed, all of the things that belonged to his son.Bernardo had eliminated all signs of sickness from this room.It appeared as it always did when Diego was away, clean, tidy and ready for his son to return.Taking a deep breath, Alejandro moved the coverlet aside and pulled off the linen sheet, folding it almost reverently and holding it to his chest as he turned to the wardrobe.He pulled out a new white shirt, a pair of plain riding calzoneros and clean undergarments.While he was doing this, he again felt an anger burning in his chest, intense anger at those Rantiri who were responsible for this.It was a consuming hatred, but he fought it down in order to do the task that was ahead of him.**

**All of the things he had gathered were held close as he went through the secret doorway and down the steps.He found Bernardo combing Diego’s hair, having already shaved the previous four days’ growth of beard from his face.Alejandro helped as best he could, but felt awkward and clumsy.Bernardo took the new clothes and adroitly put them on.When they were finished, Alejandro had to turn away for a moment.The Rantiri Diego looked as though he were sleeping.**

**The burial took place at midnight in a tiny cave just inside the boundaries of the de la Vega lands.The weather matched the mood of the men, dreary, stormy and bleak.Thunder growled and boomed overhead, lightning flashed, illuminating their path and causing the dark stallion to prance nervously.The small cart bumping behind him agitated Tornado, who was not used to a harness, but he continued following the men leading him.The rain soaked them to the skin within minutes, but that was ignored as rocks were piled in front of the little cave until it was entirely sealed.“Puede usted reclinarse en la paz, mi hijo,” Alejandro said softly as the weary pair finished.Finally he turned and taking hold of Tornado’s reins, walked back toward the hacienda.Before they reached the entrance of the secret cave, he undid the harness to the cart, took off the bridle and released the stallion.“Remember your home, Tornado, but for now, roam freely,” Alejandro called out over the howling storm.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-Two**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories22.htm)  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	23. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-two**

**Minta stood just inside the outer door of the airlock, looking out at the long awaited land of Diego’s birth.The flight on the long-range shuttle had only taken a few day-cycles and had been restful and sedate. They were the only passengers, and while they pretty much had the run of the tiny vessel, most of the time they had kept to their cabin.**

**She remembered Dr. Klictis’ admonition to be careful and his assurance that things would probably be difficult, but would work out in the end.She would miss him.As grotesque as his appearance might be to most humanoids, he had a gentleness about him that reminded her of some of the descriptions that Diego gave her of his father.Klictis was fatherly.She would also miss Wis.Diego had warmed up to him quickly, and the two became friends, as well as teachers of their various martial arts skills.Most of all, though, she would miss the serenity that the voyage had provided for her.**

**She was afraid.Even though she would go into the depths of Diego’s Hell with him, she was still afraid of the days ahead.Would Diego’s people accept her?Would she be able to adapt to the primitive conditions? _Of course I will adapt_ , she scolded herself. _I will have Diego._**

**Her face was wet with rain that blew in at the whims of the capricious winds.Heavy rain drummed on the outside of the shuttle, making communication near the doorway almost impossible.The night was dark, made darker by the thick, lowered clouds and heavy rains.Lightning lit the sky at random intervals, booming thunder making her jump.**

**Diego had been confused when they had finally reached Earth and established orbit.He had tried to describe his homeland as clearly as he could, but while his language skills had fully returned, there were still limits to his knowledge that had nothing to do with his enforced amnesia.He had been able to give description of the land in terms of plant and animal life, he could describe homes and people.He remembered, for the most part, what his hacienda looked like, but to give landmarks discernable from space was beyond his capabilities.As they had shot through the atmosphere and approached a land mass, Diego had excused himself, unable to watch the high speed transition from space to landing.**

**Captain Irios had been most patient throughout it all, having brought along a very reliable exo-geologist.It had taken a day of intense detective work, but from Diego’s descriptions of the topography of his homeland, they had narrowed the choices to three landing sites.This was the second one.The first elicited no recognition from Diego, only disappointment, but this one he recognized immediately.She could see from the moment he looked out of the airlock into the stormy night that this was the right place.**

**Diego stood outside, almost far enough from the shuttle to be unseen, his face upraised, his countenance one of sheer joy.Within minutes of leaving the ship, his clothing had been soaked and was plastered to his body.He turned, the ecstasy still on his face, and beckoned to her.As she started out into the storm, she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a voice in her ear.**

**“We need to leave soon, Elo Minta.You must say the words of dissolution and then he can return to his people and we can take you home to yours,” the shuttle pilot said.**

**It was as she thought.This pilot knew of her position just as the captain of the larger spaceship did.They all expected her to simply leave Diego behind and go back to Rantir.“Captain Irios, what if I wanted to stay here?This world is clean and fresh,” she ventured.**

**“I was told that only the young man was staying, the rest of us were leaving,” he answered.**

**She ventured a bit further, hoping not to antagonize the young humanoid into forcefully holding her on board ship, but wanting to see how far his orders had gone.“But if I chose to stay…”**

**“I was assured that you were coming back with me, but I have no orders forcing you to.It would be your choice, Elo, although I was told that this world is dangerous.”**

**“Perhaps, but I am willing to risk it.Thank you, Captain Irios.What I have in the bag is of little importance, you do not even have to send it back to Rantir,” she said and walked out into the elements.By the time she reached Diego she, too, was soaked to the skin.**

**“Is it not beautiful?The rain is life, the air is cleansed and we are home!” Diego shouted.He gathered her in his arms and swung her in an arc lifting her off the ground.Then he crushed her to him in a fierce embrace that took the wind from her lungs.**

**Pressing her lips to his ear, she asked, “How quickly can we get to someplace where it will be difficult for them to find us?”**

**His body stiffened slightly in surprise, but Diego caught on and quickly said, “There are caves all over these hills, and if my memory of our surroundings is correct, the secret cave is nearby.Why?” he asked, his voice registering alarm.**

**“The captain had no orders to detain me, but that might change if he contacts someone before taking off,” she said as they trotted hand in hand up one hill and over its crest.The rain slid in her eyes, blurring her vision.“Does it do this all the time?”**

**“No, querida, it does it more at certain times of the year.I have apparently been away for quite a while.It was into the dry season when I was abducted and here it seems to be in the middle of the rainy season, February or March I would say,” Diego explained, with a soft laugh that was drowned out by the ominous rumble of thunder.“Wait here.Let me see what the ship is doing,” he added motioning for her to wait for him.He went back up to the ridge, hunched over and secretive.Within a minute, Minta could no longer see him and she thought it somewhat funny that he would take such precautions in such heavy darkness.**

**Then from nearby, a flash of lightning lit the sky and she was able to see Diego in an instant, a small compact form just below the crest of the hill.She blinked at the sudden light, and the darkness enveloped him once more.She crouched in the dark, the rain running down her face and into her eyes.The wind picked up, making the warm rain suddenly cold and harsh.Shivering, Minta tried to hold her arms tightly to her chest, but that didn’t seem to help.The thunder continued to roll across the sky, shaking the ground.Lightning on most worlds was dangerous if one was on higher ground.She wished Diego would come back down the hill.**

**“They took off.I saw the ship about twenty feet above the ground and as the light faded, it just shot up, like the ball from a musket,” he shouted by her ear.Minta jumped, startled, not having heard him approach.**

**“Then can we find a place to dry off?” she asked, half joking and half serious.**

**“Of course.The hacienda is dry and warm.If I can remember which direction it’s in,” he answered, taking her hand.Then feeling her shivering, he pulled her close to him, enveloping one arm around her shoulders.They made their way down the slope, slipping and sliding on wet gravel and mud, their only illumination the occasional flashes of lightning.“Querida, I wish I remembered better.You are cold and to be in the rain like this for too long is not good.”**

**“Oh, Diego, please, do not worry about it.We will find something soon.Even the best of memories would have trouble in this terrible storm.”**

**They walked over another hill and alternately slid and stumbled down the slope.Another lightning bolt lit the hillside and an instant moment of recognition crossed Diego’s features. “There is a cave here.A small one, but shelter nonetheless.”He pulled her by the hand to a place further down the hillside.Then he stopped, groped and stood quietly pondering.As Minta was about to say something, another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky.**

**Diego was puzzled, staring at the wall of rocks in front of him.“I remember there was a cave here, at least I thought there was, but…”More lightning lit the sky to day brightness.“Rocks have been piled her recently,” Diego added, looking more closely at the rock wall.He jerked around trying to see into the storm.“It is too dark, I cannot remember well enough.We will continue along this arroyo until we find something that is out of the storm.Tomorrow, I will be able to see better and then I will find the secret cave,” he said, his lips close to her ear.**

**“That will be fine, Diego.We will be able to keep each other warm tonight,” she reassured him.**

**They slipped and slid along the slope, holding on to each other, feeling the chill of the rain settling under their skins, and on into their bones.Minta shivered.Lightning flashed again, revealing a ghostly landscape around them, full of rocks and brush.Diego gave a cry of triumph.“This is it!The secret cave should be behind this brush.”In the darkness, Diego groped for the opening that only he, Bernardo, and his father knew, and of course, Tornado.Holding back the largest branch, he guided Minta into the dry interior of the cave.Immediately the fury of the storm was muted, the thunder becoming a soft growling, the lightning, only dim flickerings.Ahead of them, it was pitch dark, a stygian darkness that seemed foreboding, and Minta shivered from more than cold and wet.And it was empty. To Minta, it seemed as empty as a tomb, ominous and mysterious.She huddled closer to Diego, finding comfort in the nearness of his body.This was his world; he was the expert now.**

**“Querida _,_ it is usually not like this,” he said as though reading her thoughts.Tornado is usually here, especially on a night like this.”He stood statue still, but it was not from fear, it was as though he was gathering in all the information and deciding the next course of action.His breathing was even and his body warmth along with his renewed confidence lessened her fear as well as her shivering. **

**She waited, trusting that he would know what to do, and amazed at the difference four months made.**

**“You are going to have to wait while I find a lantern, cara mia,” he said finally.Slowly, carefully, he led her near something that softly gurgled and pulled her into a sitting position.She found herself on a fairly flat rock.The gurgling was a tiny spring, the water flowing from some unknown access point nearby.“Do not go anywhere.I will be right back.”**

**“Diego, I have no intention of moving anywhere right now,” she said in the pitch-blackness, as his fingers slowly slid out of her hand.She listened carefully, alternately hearing the muttering of the storm and his footsteps.After what seemed an interminable time, the soft glow of light broke the total darkness.It illuminated an area of rock walls, ceiling and floor.The rough wall tapered up to a point near where she was sitting but was more room-like where Diego had found the lantern.She got up, looking around at the small enclosure near her, the pile of hay beyond that.Several things lay near the enclosure along with a wooden-wheeled cart.One of the things was made of leather and seemed to have the shape of something that one could sit on, especially on the back of a creature like the ones that Diego had described.Minta concluded it was a saddle.A pile of hay also lay in the chamber where Diego held the lantern.His eyes were troubled, although there was still anticipation in their depths.**

**She walked slowly to the other chamber, her eyes sliding from side to side, wondering at this domain where Diego’s secret resided.She saw melted candle stubs in a nook in the rock wall, bottles on the floor, blankets, brushes and clothing.Curious, Minta walked over to the clothing and felt its soft silkiness.In the candlelight, its sheen was lustrous, seeming to give the black fabric life and power.Looking carefully at its length, she saw that it would fit Diego perfectly, loose over his shoulders and hanging down to his knees.“This is for Zorro?” she asked.**

**“Yes, except this is Bernardo’s costume.It usually hangs in the same little room as mine does, but for some reason it was left here,” he answered, looking around the room as well.Leaving the lantern sitting on the floor, he perused the bottles, taking the cork out and sniffing each one.“Medicine,” he murmured absently.**

**“What, mi amor?” she asked.**

**“I would guess that my ‘substitute’ was cared for in here.I would also guess that he did, indeed die, and was carried out on that cart.Normally there isn’t one in here.Let me move this old hay away and get some fresh hay.We may have to stay here for the night until I find out what has happened.It might be awkward if the servants saw me and thought I was a ghost,” he added with a slight smile.It seemed forced to her.**

**“I will help you.”**

**Nodding, Diego took a pitchfork from the wall near the little enclosure and began tossing the old hay into a pile in the outer chamber.Smelling another pile of hay near the enclosure, he seemed satisfied and began making another heap in the inner chamber near the little niche that contained the tiny piles of burnt wax.“Why was there a need for candles if there are lanterns?” Minta asked as she helped him carry hay.**

**“It would seem that Bernardo burned candles for me, or rather my double.I can only guess that one was his, the other Father’s and I am not sure about the third.”Seeing her puzzled look, he continued.“It is part of my religion, enamorada.You light a candle to help one find the way out of purgatory, or to help one find the right way in life.I will have to ask Bernardo about the third candle.”He formed the hay into a semblance of a mattress with her help and gestured for her to sit down.He sat down next to her. The smell of the hay was earthy and soon she even found herself getting used to the prickly feel of hay stubble. “I will go up and get blankets in a minute.I will also find something in the kitchen.You look cold and hungry.”**

**“A little, but Diego, you seem sad,” Minta said quietly, leaning against his arm.**

**“There is sadness here, where usually there is life, vitality,” he said.“I feel something is not right.”He sat quietly, only his chest rising and falling while his eyes seemed to focus on more than the walls of the cave.“I will go and get the things we need, then I will find my father.Wait here, querida.You will be safe.If Tornado comes in, just ignore him.He will probably be hungry and just want to eat and rest.”**

**“I will, Diego,” she said as he slowly got up and walked down a stone corridor into the darkness.The certainty of his steps indicated his sure knowledge of the cave since he didn’t take the lantern.Minta waited in the soft glow of the lantern, wondering how Diego must be feeling about all of this skulking around, and she realized that it was part of the reason for his melancholy.This homecoming wasn’t what he had hoped or wished for.Lying back in the slightly musty, pungent, crinkly hay, and despite her best intentions, she closed her eyes and found herself dozing into a light sleep.**

**Minta woke to Diego’s soft footsteps and the feel of a blanket covering her.Opening her eyes she smiled, genuinely happy at his return.She wondered if she would feel the same way after he had been out on his nocturnal rounds and she felt that she would be even happier.He sat down by her side and handed her a piece of bread.“There is fresh beef hanging, so there were no pots of dried beef simmering in the coals.This cornbread and the tortillas are not much, but they should keep us from starving to death until morning.And I brought wine.It is not the same as that drink on the ship, but it is good de la Vega vintage.”**

**Minta munched on the bread, savoring the slightly crunchy, and somewhat different flavor of it.He set the wooden platter next to the hay mattress and opened the bottle, pouring some wine into a pewter cup for her to drink.She felt the sweet tang of the wine as it slid down her throat.“This is very good, Diego.It tastes almost like sunshine.Won’t you have some?” she asked, handing the mug to him.**

**Shaking his head, he said, “No, I’m going to see my father.Everyone is in bed, so I am assuming that it is past midnight and he’s in bed, also.But I feel that I need to see him, reassure him and then I will be back down.You go on to sleep.”**

**“Give your father my love, dearest,” she murmured, still eating the cornbread.**

**“I will,” he said, and was gone into the darkness once more.With a sigh, Minta finished the morsels in her hand, drank the last swallows in the cup and lay down to wait for him, feeling strange going to sleep without him by her side.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-Three**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories23.htm)  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	24. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Stealthily, Diego padded along the secret corridor to his father’s room.Because it was seldom used, the door squeaked softly on its hinges, but the grumbling of thunder hid its complaints.His father mumbled and groaned in his sleep, apparently dreaming.A chair sat near the bed and Diego quietly pulled it closer.For a second he hesitated waking him up; sleep was a precious commodity on a large rancho.**

**A flash of lightning illuminated his father’s face, showing a sorrow that told Diego the dream was not a pleasant one.Then the darkness closed over the room again, leaving Diego to wonder what his father was dreaming about that caused him so much suffering.“Diego,” the older man murmured, deep sorrow in his voice.“Diego, my son.”**

**_Me?_ he asked himself.There could be no more waiting.He had to let his father know he had returned.And he, himself, had waited for this moment ever since he had left Rantir, ever since he had distinctly remembered Father.He reached out and gently laid his hand on his father’s shoulder.**

**“Father,” he said softly.How much had his father suffered thinking that he was dead?“Father.”The silver haired man moaned and rolled over.Diego laid his hand on his father’s other shoulder and shook gently.“Father, it’s me, Diego.”**

**Suddenly the older man stiffened under Diego’s hand and partially sat up, his eyes peering into the dark for the source of the voice and warm touch of the hand.“Wh…what?Who is it?”**

**“It is Diego, Father.I have come home,” he said softly.**

**“No, Diego is dead.” The voice seemed confused, befuddled with sleep.**

**Diego continued to talk softly, keeping his hand on his father’s arm.“No, the other was a substitute taking my place.I am truly your son, Diego.I am alive and I have finally made it home.”**

**There was the slight hesitation of one finishing the transition out of sleep and into full wakefulness.Then the old don jerked upright in bed, the outline of his body only barely perceivable.“Diego?” he asked, his voice trembling with the expression of tentative joy.**

**“Yes, Father.I have returned.”**

**The man in the bed made a moaning sound deep in his throat.He started to say something, but was so overcome that he only reached for Diego instead.The young man grasped his father tightly in a hug that spoke volumes of longing and anticipation.His father reciprocated, punctuating it with a choking cry of overwhelming happiness.Then he began to sob, his chest heaving, even as he hugged his son tight.Diego felt his heart would burst with happiness.**

**“Oh, Diego, my son.My son!Santa Maria, how often I prayed for this,” Alejandro murmured.Relief washed over him, and deep, overwhelming joy.He felt the strong muscles in his son’s back and shoulders, the dampness of the cloth, the warmth of Diego’s living body.The tears that he had held inside during the last four weeks were finally released and they slid down his face and onto his son’s shoulder.He heard the voice that he thought he would never hear again except in his dreams.His dreams!Could this be just another one? One more vivid, sent to haunt him, torment him with almost fulfilled desire? _No, this is real!_**

**But he had to see his son, had to verify his reality, to prove that this was not one of the dreams that had haunted him every night for the past four weeks.Pulling back, he fumbled on his nightstand for the candle and the flint and steel.As though reading his father’s mind, Diego found the candle and lit it.The first thing the soft glow showed was his son’s bright smile.“It’s you?It is really you,” Alejandro said in a whisper.“I was told you would return, but it seemed so impossible, so remote.Bernardo has told me to keep faith, he told me to believe.And you are here…”His babbling, trembling voice trailed off as he stared, almost drunk in the vision of his son in front of him.Diego wore a suit of a type unknown to him; it appeared to be a one-piece outfit with no evidence of buttons or other fastenings.And from the dampness of the front of his nightshirt, it was obvious that Diego had been in the storm.He reached out, one trembling finger touching his son’s face.**

**“I am here, Father.I am home,” Diego repeated.**

**A sudden thought occurred to Alejandro.One that made him wonder again if he was dreaming.Diego seemed to know him, as though there had been no time or space missing between the time of his capture and the present moment. _But how?_ “And you remember?” he asked.**

**Diego jerked back in surprise.“What do you mean,” he asked, “remember?”**

**“I mean you have your memories, you remember me.”**

**“Yes,” Diego said, his voice tight with emotion.“I remember most things now, although not everything.It wasn’t always so.It has taken months for my memories to come back.It was very hard.”He laid his hand back on his father’s shoulder.“How did you know?”**

**Alejandro placed his hand on top of his son’s.“The one who was sent to replace you told me.He also said that you would be coming back.He tried to wait in order to give you back your memories.I am not sure how he was planning to do that…”**

**“He told you what happened before he died?”**

**“Yes, he did.He said he felt that I should know.I am grateful to him for that.I am grateful for the hope that he gave me,” Alejandro gazed into Diego’s eyes, reveled in the recognition that he saw there.“I had expected you to come home and not know me.That was so very hard for me to imagine.”**

**“If I had come home several months earlier, I would not have recognized you.It was as the duplicate said, there were no memories at first.But they began to return, a little bit here and then some there.It was sometimes very confusing.I am still remembering.”**

**“How?The duplicate did not seem to think it would be possible,” Alejandro said, incredulous.**

**“I do not know, it just happened.Their memory machine apparently did not work right,” Diego said and then gave his father some of the details of his recovery from the induced amnesia.His thoughts kept returning to the one that looked and acted so much like him that he was able to fool his father and everyone else in the pueblo. “How did he die, Father?” Diego asked softly.It was obvious from the way his father talked, from the tone of his voice that his duplicate had served well in his absence.**

**“One of El Diablo’s men shot him in the back.He covered for you, gave you an alibi for when you returned, but he was unable to fight off the fever from the wound.He went against the wishes of his leader because he came to understand what you were doing here.He went against those monsters that take who they want and do anything they see fit with them, discarding them when it suits them.”Alejandro’s voice rose in indignation before he reined in his emotions.Diego looked at him curiously and then looked down at the ground.He had been prepared to come home and find his father mourning his death.But this he did not expect.There was mourning, but there was a deep and abiding resentment along with that sorrow, an anger bordering on hatred not only for what had happened to him, but also what had happened to his duplicate.Diego suddenly felt uncomfortable in his father’s presence.**

**“Jerintas,” Diego murmured, then he looked back up.“Father, most of the Rantiri are good people, their leader simply made a mistake.And it does not surprise me that my substitute acted the way he did, he had my memories, feelings and beliefs that were taken from my mind.” Diego paused.“He had more of me when he died than I have right now,” Diego said softly, his voice almost a whisper.**

**Alejandro heard only Diego’s first sentence and felt himself bristling at its condescending tone.“How can you say that about people who took you away, tried to steal your past, your soul, tried to use you, who even used one of their own in such a monstrous manner?”**

**“Father, are we so much better than they?” he asked, worried about his father’s rancorous and biting comments.He thought of Minta and his assurances to her.Now he wasn’t so sure.“You are tired, we can talk more about this tomorrow,” Diego said soothingly.**

**“Yes, you are right.Now is not the time to talk about unpleasant things.I am sorry.”Alejandro was incredulous at his son’s power of forgiveness.“How did you escape, my son?” he asked, changing the subject.**

**“I had help.My teacher found out what had been done and found a way to bring me home.The leader decided that kidnapping me was wrong and he helped as well.”**

**“Bring?This teacher is here now?” Alejandro asked, not hearing Diego’s last statement.Was this teacher from Rantir?Did he have one of those creatures in his house? _But no, that cannot be.It has to be someone else who had helped Diego_ , he thought. **

**“Yes, asleep,” Diego said.Suddenly, he didn’t want to say anything else about Minta to his father.He felt fear deep inside his heart, fear for his beloved.All he wanted to do was go back to her.There was a short silence as he tried to think of some way to leave decorously.**

**“Tell me how you got here.It must have been difficult for you to get away.”Alejandro saw fatigue in Diego’s face and realized that this must be the reason for his son’s sudden reluctance.But he couldn’t just let him leave now.There was so much he wanted to tell him.And he just wanted to keep looking at the son he thought he might have lost forever.Diego told him some of the details of his departure from Rantir.It seemed so very simple and sedate, not at all like he thought it would be.**

**“Father, I am so very tired.It was hard finding the cave in the storm,” Diego said with a yawn.Then he smiled.“I promise I will not go anywhere.I will still be here when the sun rises,” he said, as though reading his Alejandro’s mind.**

**“Yes, you must be tired as well,” Alejandro said, looking at the pocket watch sitting on the nightstand.Even though it seemed as though Diego had just shown up, they had been talking for over two hours.“Are you staying in your room?”**

**“No, in the secret cave.We wanted to see what had happened here, what effect our appearance would make before just showing up.”**

**“Very wise, my son,” Alejandro said, wondering again about this mysterious teacher of Diego’s, feeling a bit of apprehension.“Diego, you and your companion sleep for whatever is left of the night and then we will talk some more tomorrow morning and plan for your ‘return’ from your business trip.And get something dry from your room on the way back down, you must have been soaked out there in the rain.”**

**“Yes, Father, we did get a bit wet,” Diego said with a wry smile.“Your idea is a good one.I am tired.Con permiso.”He grasped his father’s arms once more in a tight grip of reassurance before turning to the secret doorway.“It really is good to be back home.”**

**“Yes, my son, it is.My life feels renewed now.”**

**Diego slipped out, suddenly feeling as tired as he claimed.His father’s vitriolic outburst against the Rantiri disturbed him, but he didn’t have any idea what to do about it at the moment.He would have to talk to Father in the morning before introducing Minta to him, hoping that would soften the blow.Diego could only imagine what it must have been like to take care of his dying ‘twin.’Bernardo might be able to give him more information, but he hated to wake the manservant up at this hour.Tomorrow.Everything could be taken care of tomorrow.Now he had to get back to Minta.She was the one who was in a strange and unfamiliar place.Padding quietly down the secret corridor, he paused near his room.Shaking his head, he went down the stairs without going inside.He would just let his outfit dry in the cave and change in the morning.**

**Then Diego thought about Tornado.He had neglected to ask about the stallion.Had his father been so upset that he had let the horse go?This was just one more question to be answered later.He stumbled at the foot of the stairs and caught himself.His body demanded rest; it had been a very tense, stressful day and night.The lantern was dim and appeared to be running out of fuel, but that wouldn’t matter that much, it would be daylight in a few hours and they would probably sleep until the mid-morning sun softly illuminated the outer chamber of the cave.As he approached their makeshift bed, Minta murmured softly in her sleep, turning over to face him, but not totally waking up.**

**Diego remembered her question about the candles and his answer to her.He thought about the religion that had shaped his life, giving him direction even when he wasn’t able to remember specific things.His rapidly returning memories now told him that his religion did not recognize his union to Minta.He sighed mentally.There were still things that he did not remember, things that would be too hard to explain to Minta.Frustrated, he shook his head.It was so good to be home, but if that was so, why was he still feeling so confused?Diego sighed aloud.He still believed in this union that he had formed with her, and that was what was important now.He would talk to the _padre_ and work this out with him.**

**The padre.What was his name?As he had done in the past, Diego racked his brain trying to think of what was missing.Padre Felipe!Yes, he would talk to him, he thought, picturing the short, stocky, kindly man.He remembered the priest saying that all was in the hands of God.Dr. Klictis, different though he was, had said that all would work out and Diego believed him.**

**Slipping out of the modified crewman’s uniform and laying it across the top bar of the enclosure, Diego lay down next to his wife and pulled the blanket over him.“I was missing you, my darling,” Minta murmured in his ear.Turning over to face her, he kissed her tenderly, running his fingers through the silken softness of her hair and down the smooth contours of her body.**

**“Father had to know that I was back,” he answered, between kisses.**

**“Of course he did.I am looking forward to meeting him.”**

**“I have to talk to him more before that happens,” Diego said hesitantly.**

**“Oh?” Minta asked.There was a puzzled quality in her voice.**

**“It would seem that the duplicate unit told him a great deal of what happened and he is very upset that your people would do such a thing,” Diego explained.“It will be all right once I explain things to him.We were both tired and now was not the time to discuss it, although he does know that my ‘teacher’ brought me back home.”**

**Her long fingers found his lips and shushed him; their bodies touched and they found comfort in each other.Soon the only sound in the cave was the soft trickling of water into the small reservoir, and the deep sighing breaths of the two sleepers.**

**=============================**

**Alejandro sat in bed, thinking in wonder at the recent conversation with his son.He marveled at Diego’s return, he relived the moments over and over again, thanking the Holy Virgin for his son’s return.He thought about Diego until his eyelids drooped and he dozed off.It seemed only a few seconds later that he woke to the sound of water dripping from the roof and birds joyfully greeting the day.He looked around him and saw the burnt down candle stub.Diego had lit that candle last night, Alejandro thought euphorically.Pulling off his robe he felt the damp spots where his son had embraced him. _Ai, it was true!!He is home!He is home!_**

**Quickly, the old don scrambled out of bed, hurriedly washed up, only taking his time as he shaved.Jerking off his nightshirt and throwing on clean undergarments, he pulled a dark suit out of his wardrobe.He slipped on and buttoned the calzoneros, put on a plain white shirt, finishing off with the embroidered vest and chaqueta.As he was pulling on his low cut boots, he heard a knock at the door.“Enter,” he said happily.**

**When no one came in the door, Alejandro knew it must be Bernardo.Walking to the door, he opened it to find the mozo on the other side, a small tray in his hands.Gesturing for him to come in, Alejandro closed the door behind him.“Bernardo, it finally happened,” he said happily, almost dancing with joy.**

**Bernardo put the tray down on the bed and helped the older man with his tie.Then he stood back and gestured furiously, a look of hope on his round face.**

**“Yes, Bernardo, Diego is home.He came during the night and spoke to me briefly,” Alejandro said.With eyes bright with emotion, the mozo gestured some more.“No, he stayed in the secret cave, just to make sure that everything was all right before he made an appearance.He said someone helped him return, a teacher, he called him.”**

**There were more gestures.“Yes!Bernardo he remembered me!He told me a little bit about his kidnapping, but we were both tired, so I sent him to get some sleep,” Alejandro explained.“I want you to discreetly take some food down to the cave for him and his companion.That is where I’ll be.”**

**Bernardo grinned happily and pointed to the tray.“No, I’m not hungry.You can take this as well.”**

**Bernardo nodded, and leaving the tray, went back to the kitchen to get another bowl of porridge and cup of champurado.Alejandro went through the small secret door and stepped lightly down the stone steps.There was no noise in the outer chambers, but he assumed that walking through the storm had worn his son out and he and the teacher were still asleep.The scene that greeted him as he walked into the room was anything but what he had expected.On a mattress made of hay, curled up together, arms entwined, lay his son and a dark-skinned female.**

**_Santa Maria, what leave of senses has Diego taken?What did the Rantiri do to him that he would forsake everything that was sacred and live in this sinful state?Dios, help me to understand,_ he cried out in his mind.But he couldn’t understand.Sorrow and anger filled his heart, mind and soul.He cried out in anguish, and then, as Diego and his companion jerked up in surprise, he realized that he had cried aloud.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-four**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories24.htm)  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	25. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-Four**

****

**Diego’s sleep fogged mind heard the deep cry, and his body automatically jerked into semi-wakefulness before he realized what was going on.Instinctively, he maneuvered himself in front of Minta, even as she scrambled to pull the blanket around her bare torso.Diego found himself facing his father.He saw the surprise, hurt and anger on Father’s face and his memories began supplying the full implication of what his father was seeing.**

**“Father…” he began.**

**“Diego!Did those devilish heathens take away your moral upbringing as well as your memory?SANTA MARIA, WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?”Alejandro’s voice was strident in his anger and indignation.**

**“Father…” Diego tried again, getting up, trying to say something that would break through his father’s anger and hurt.His own agitation, guilt and confusion were warring with good reasoning and the former emotions were winning.**

**“Unmarried, sleeping with a woman…under my roof, in my house!Going against all that I taught you!Diego, how could you just drop your religion like…like…that suit of yours?How could you?Did I teach you nothing?Was it that easy to forget?”**

**“Father!Listen!” Diego tried yet again, his voice rising in anger as well.If Father would only listen, he would understand.The younger man remembered the times in the past when his father had voiced displeasure in his behavior and it added to the sting of his hurt feelings now.This was not what he brought Minta to his home to hear.Anger grew in his heart.He stood, naked except for his undergarments, the lines of his body taut with pent up emotion.He felt his muscles tightening as though readying themselves for a physical fight, and guilt added itself to his other emotions.**

**From what Alejandro could see, this woman was dark like Diego’s kidnappers and her hair was light, almost white.Sudden realization dawned on him, this woman, Diego’s teacher was Rantiri.This was what the Rantiri really looked like.Diego was lying with one of that hated race.No wonder his son had been so forgiving toward those people.His anger at Diego’s transgression was combined with the hate he felt for those who had taken his son.“And this woman…bad enough that you have sinned against God and the Holy Blessed Virgin by this action of yours, but you sin with one of those…those devilish…Rantiri people.I cannot believe you would bring one of them into my house; that you would sleep with one….”**

**“ENOUGH!” Diego bellowed.He saw a vague shadow behind his father and realized it was Bernardo.Behind him, he heard Minta stifle a soft cry.His authoritarian exclamation halted all commotion in the cave.His father stood quietly, his mouth open in shock, but his body still taut with anger and hurt.**

**Diego’s own hurt was almost more than he could bear, his anger at the words against Minta spiraling out of control.“You do not have to worry, Father.”His voice was low, but it was terse and cutting, sharp with the knife-edge of his fury“I would not have Minta stay any place where she is not welcome.I will not have my wife so vilified and abused.I only need to get a change of clothing and we will be gone.”He turned just enough to squeeze Minta’s hand to reassure her.He wished he could simply walk out now with Minta, but he knew realistically that he could not go anywhere in his alien jumpsuit. “I will be right back, no more than a few minutes,” he whispered to her.He saw that while there was fear in her eyes, there was also trust and resolution.She nodded slightly.Quickly, he jerked the coverall from the rail of the enclosure and pulled it on.He rubbed his hand down the fastenings as he brushed past his father.“And perhaps it might be decent if you let my wife get dressed without an audience,” he added acerbically, taking the stone steps two at a time, leaving only silence in his wake.He noticed Bernardo’s anguished look, but chose to ignore it, only wanting to get what he needed and be gone.**

**==================**

**Alejandro looked over his shoulder in shock as Diego stalked up the steps, and then turned to the woman standing quietly on the far side of the room.His anger at her people was now directed toward this heathen woman who had so bewitched his son.**

**Then he noticed her countenance.It was full of sadness, hurt and bewilderment.Alejandro had also seen the look of devotion on her face when Diego had whispered something to her. _What was she trying to do coming here, corrupting my son_ , he asked himself?Then… _Wife?_ _They are married?_ Tears began trickling down her cheeks, like the glistening drops of water that dripped down the cave wall into the small reservoir.He tried to keep from feeling any sympathy toward this woman, but the word ‘wife’ kept whispering in his mind.**

**“Please, Don Alejandro, do not blame Diego,” Minta said through her tears.“He did not remember all of what your religion said about marriage.It is not his fault; it’s mine.We realized that we loved each other and wanted to be together forever.I wanted to…marry him right away.Dr. Klictis said that we could get married by his faith after we came here.We thought that if we were uni…married, no one would try to stop me from staying with Diego--my people or your people.We thought it was all right.Diego did not remember everything.This has been so hard for him.”Then she began to sob, deep, racking, painful sobs, her face in her hands, her tears falling into the hay.She fell to her knees, still crying softly.**

**Alejandro tried to keep his anger fanned to match what had been in his heart when the substitute Diego had died, but he felt it beginning to melt away, leaving him confused and empty.He was being drawn to her just as he had been to Diego’s substitute. _Could there be something good about these people, despite this heinous act that they had done to Diego?_ he asked himself.He looked at the young woman again, heard her sobs, remembered the look of pure devotion as she gazed at Diego.He turned and paced a short distance into the cave’s interior.Back and forth he went, thinking.He remembered Diego’s words when he came into his room in the early morning hours.‘Most of the Rantiri are good people, their leader simply made a mistake, and, Father, are we so much better than they?’ _Are we so much better than they?_ he repeated in his mind. _No, we are not, I suppose,_ he answered himself, at the same time thinking that he would still never understand the reasoning behind Diego’s abduction.And to her credit, this ‘wife’ of his had managed to figure out how to bring his son’s memories back and how to get him home.Gratitude began to slowly fill some of the spaces left empty by the retreating anger.**

**Remotely, Alejandro was surprised at her command of his language.No doubt, Diego had been teaching her and had done a very good job.But even more surprising was the emotion behind her words.She truly loved Diego.This woman of another race, from another world, loved his son deeply.**

**“You and Diego are married?” he asked, his thoughts in total disarray.She looked up, startled at the softer tone in his voice, her violet eyes still sad and fearful.**

**“Y…yes, on board the ship that brought us here.A spiritual advisor united us and we said the words of union.My people’s beliefs do not allow cohabitation without a union…marriage.”**

**Surprised, Alejandro could not say anything for a moment.A tap on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts.Turning, he saw Bernardo motioning something about Diego.He would go to Diego.Absently, the older man nodded.He needed to talk to his son, but first he needed to talk to this woman of another world, this girl who had done what no other woman had been able to accomplish, that of falling in love with and marrying his son.**

**“Would you like me to leave while you get dressed?” he asked her softly and then cringed mentally at the inanity of the question. _Of course she did._ She nodded, her violet eyes showing a hint of hope.“I will go up the stairs a bit and you call me when you are…decent,” he said.Kneeling in the hay, naked except for the blanket wrapped around her body, she gazed at him, tears still falling down her cheeks.She reminded him of a frightened doe, caught unaware by wolves in a box canyon.There was a look of despair in her eyes, but it was tempered by hope. Again she nodded and he turned and walked down the corridor.**

**As he waited, his thoughts still churned furiously.Regardless of what they had said, his son and this girl were still living in sin.They would have to go to Father Felipe immediately.He was sure that Diego’s amnesia would mollify the priest and with her not being baptized….He assumed that she was not baptized.She would be under no condemnation.He sighed.Then there was the talk.This girl was certainly different than any of the upper class women of California that Diego could have chosen.Not that there weren’t mulatto men and women in the upper echelon of California society, but there was a difference.Her light hair and violet eyes were not among the norm here.He hoped that would not cause a problem for Diego.And just what was her position in her society? _Ai!_ he thought. _Things would have been so much simpler if I had betrothed him before he went to Spain._**

**“I am ready, Don Alejandro,” she called, her voice echoing softly against the walls of the cave.He noticed that it had an almost musical quality.**

**He returned to her part of the cave and saw that she had changed into a garment that was very much like Diego’s.It accentuated her willowy figure, but he thought that a lovely dress would be much more fitting.She had also hastily washed her face, and though it erased the evidence of her tears, it still didn’t totally hide her confusion and fear.He walked over and stood before her.“What is your name?” he asked mildly.**

**“Minta de la Vega y Morlif-Brocnor,” she said promptly, definite pride in her voice.**

**The thought that Diego had chosen to marry without him being in attendance was not lost on him and he felt a stabbing of hurt.“While these are not the best of circumstances to meet under, I will do my best to be a gracious host and will also try to keep an open mind.”As his emotions kept trying to rebel against contact with one of the same race as his son’s captors, he nevertheless took her right hand and lightly kissed it.It was then that he noticed that she had five fingers and a thumb.He drew back and gazed at her hand thoughtfully.This would make things much more difficult.**

**“I have one more finger on each hand than your people do, Don Alejandro,” she murmured, stating the obvious.**

**“Yes,” he said softly, not wanting to go into what the people of the pueblo might think of such a deviation.“And for right now, I think that it might be much better if you wear gloves in public.I can have some made.”**

**They looked at each other for a moment, not sure what to say, each waiting for the other to say something.“I came here because I love Diego,” she finally said.“My leaders will not be happy that I did this, any more than you are happy that Diego married out of your religion and race.”**

**Sighing, he motioned for her to sit on an overturned bucket.He pulled another one over and sat down in front of her.“I apologize for my harsh words and my anger.I cannot fully express my gratitude to you for bringing Diego back home…”He wanted to say “to me,” but he realized that Diego had someone else with whom to share his life now.The die had been cast; Diego had chosen and had slept with this girl.He wondered if she was aware of Zorro.Probably she was, he thought, as she had learned of his past as soon as Diego had.“Please tell me how you came to be so close to my son.What led you to decide to marry him?”**

**“I was assigned to be his teacher.When a new unit…person is created, they are unable to do anything for themselves.They are assigned a teacher to help them learn how to take care of themselves.I saw from the beginning that Diego was no ordinary unit.”**

**“But he was not created,” Alejandro interrupted.**

**“Of course not, Don Alejandro, but at the time I didn’t know that.I figured that out as Diego’s memories began coming back to him,” she explained and then she continued her story.Alejandro listened in rapt attention.**

**==========================**

**Bernardo slipped into Don Diego’s room and watched his angry master for the briefest of moments before carefully tapping him in the shoulder.Diego jerked around, the scowl on his face evidence of the anger that had expressed itself in the recent volatile outburst.Bernardo motioned a question.**

**“Leaving?Of course I am leaving!What else should I do after what Father said?”**

**Bernardo motioned some more.‘You could calm down,’ the fingers said.**

**“Why?” came the terse response.**

**‘Because your father has waited for so long,’ the fingers answered.‘And he loves you.’**

**“He has a strange way of showing it,” Diego snapped.“I have been up here too long.I need to finish and leave.”He turned away and, grabbing a white shirt, threw it in a small cloth satchel.Another tap caused him to turn back around.“Bernardo, I do not have time for this!”More finger movement.“Father is doing what?” he asked in alarm.**

**‘Talking to your wife,’ the motions told him, with more signs being added.**

**“What?!” Diego cried out.“What is he saying to her?Why did you leave them alone?”**

**Bernardo signed.‘Calm down.They are talking, not arguing.’**

**As the servant signed, Diego did indeed feel himself calming down, and listening more closely to what his mozo was saying.Relief tempered his hurt.**

**“Do you think I need to go down?Will Minta be all right?” Diego asked.Bernardo nodded and signed some more.**

**“He has calmed down now?”Diego paused, the article of clothing in his hand temporarily forgotten as he remembered his father’s outbursts of the past.Remembered also was his father’s normally fair-minded disposition.He sighed and closed the lid of the trunk.Bernardo signed again.**

**“Yes, I had a slight notion of the implication of marrying outside of the Church. . . after our union.I have a greater idea of it now.But the need to marry on board the ship far outweighed the slight niggling doubts that I was feeling.I do not regret it,” Diego answered with a slight smile.**

**Then he gazed into Bernardo’s eyes.He suddenly realized just how much he had missed Bernardo, whose advice always tempered his ardor.“I missed you,” he added, his voice quiet.**

**‘I missed you as well,’ the fingers said.**

**Suddenly, Diego sat down on the edge of the bed, overwhelmed with the past day, of finally being back on his own world, in his own house, on his own bed.It had not been the way he had dreamed it would be, and he realized that there were still some rocks in the road of his homecoming.There were still memories that needed to be remembered, mistakes to be rectified.He gazed at his hands, unable to do anything else, or think of anything to say.Bernardo tapped on his arm, his fingers forming another question.**

**“No, I am not sick, Bernardo, just confused, unable to believe that I am finally here,” he said, looking into his mozo’s concerned eyes.Standing up, he grasped Bernardo in a fierce bear hug.“Despite everything, it really is good to be home.”Releasing Bernardo, he added, “I think it is time to see what is going on downstairs, then we must do some serious planning.”**

**Bernardo nodded and motioned toward the secret door.Diego slipped through and turned to the servant as they stood in the secret room.“Has Zorro ridden since the death of my duplicate?”**

**Bernardo shook his head and held up four fingers to indicate the number of weeks since the death of the substitute.He then signed more about the circumstances surrounding the death of the other Diego. _So it has been over four weeks since Zorro has ridden.More than enough time for the speculation mongers to wag their tongues,_ Diego thought. He nodded and they continued down the steps.“I am sorry that he died like that.It sounds as though he served California well in my place.”Bernardo signed his agreement.**

**In the chamber where Diego and Minta had made their bed, the two men found the young woman in deep conversation with Alejandro.When Minta saw him, she smiled broadly, her eyes gleaming with happiness.“Your father says he will help us talk to the priest,” she said.**

**Diego felt her happiness, but said nothing, walking over to his father where he bowed slightly and said, “Father, please forgive my rude and angry words.”**

**“Diego, my son, it is I who needs to be forgiven.I am sorry for the reception I gave both of you.While I do not totally understand you marrying without me present, and especially of marrying outside of the Church, I understand better your reasoning now.If you will let your companion finish her story, we can plan for the future.”**

**Diego simply nodded happily and sat down in the hay at Minta’s feet.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-five**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories25.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	26. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**“Here is a communiqué from Captain Irios, Director.He is in orbit around Earth,” Gerol said, handing Jerintas a note.He could not bring himself to say more.**

**Jerintas read the communiqué and then stared at it in horror, his eyes unfocussed, his thoughts in turmoil.“She didn’t come back,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.“She stayed on Earth with the Designated One.She stayed!” he cried out.He looked up at Gerol, who also appeared upset.“She may cause the very thing that we were trying to avoid in the first place when we got into this . . . situation.”He got up and paced.**

**“Get Captain Irios on the hyperspace communications line right now.Immediately!From my desk!” Jerintas shouted.Surprised at the outburst from the normally calm director, Gerol jumped behind the desk and began keying in the communications codes.He typed and waited.**

**“I have him, Director,” Gerol finally said after several minutes of waiting.**

**“Tell him to go back and get her.She is not to stay on that planet.”**

**Gerol typed furiously and then sat back and watched the screen.When it lit up, his eyes widened in shock.“Captain Irios gives his regards and understands your position, but that order was not given in advance and he is not going to go back and look for the girl now.He says the weather is atrocious, the couple disappeared into rocky hills where detecting them would be difficult and he also pointed out that he is not the intergalactic police force,” Gerol repeated, waiting for the outburst.There was no outburst.After some more pacing and muttering, the Director stood quietly before him, his voice controlled and seemingly calm.**

**“See if the _New Hope_ or a similar scientific vessel is available for a hyperspace jump,” he ordered.**

**“Are we going to go and get her?”Gerol asked tentatively.**

**“I am.A scientific vessel should get to Earth in a fraction of the time that it took for Minta and the Designated One to get there, perhaps less than thirty day cycles if the jump is direct,” he explained, then added, “I want you to remain here.I am appointing you the Designated Director in my place until my return, and am leaving you to resolve the problem with the Late Comer.You have concluded the computer models of its destruction haven’t you?” Jerintas asked.**

**“Yes, Director, and so far everything is very promising.No anomalies have appeared, nothing to cause any doubt as to the success of this project.We have only to wait for the correct conjunction to occur.”**

**“Good, continue on that course then.If there are any problems, contact me immediately,” he told his assistant.“Now if my own problems were so easily solved,” he murmured.He only hoped that Minta would not make it difficult for him, either to find her or to convince her that she could not live on the Designated One’s primitive planet.**

**======================**

**Diego stood silently in the tiny room hidden behind the secret panel in his bedroom, staring at the weapons hanging from pegs on the wall.There was his sword, cold steel in a plain dark scabbard, waiting for him to wear it once more.Next to it, a whip and a pistol.He touched the sword, running one finger down its cold, hard length.Deadly power emanated from it. _How did my substitute wear it?How well did he use it_? he wondered.He must have worn it well, from what his father had said.**

**He thought of the time just a few hours before, when the four of them, he, Minta, Bernardo and his father, had sat together in the outer chamber of the secret cave, talking, discussing the future, and the past.As they talked of their union, he saw the hurt in his father’s eyes.The idea that they were married, regardless of the fact that it was not a Church wedding, without him being there, had hurt Father terribly, even though he had not said anything.**

**In this, Diego felt a small amount of anger toward his kidnappers.But even in his resentment, he couldn’t totally fault the Rantiri.It was their almost obsessive desire to have whatever it was he possessed that had pushed them to kidnap him.He could even forgive them taking his memories away so that he could adapt to their world.But, on the other hand, he could not quite get over his anger at the pain and anguish that the Rantiris’ actions had caused to those he cared for the most.Even Minta had been unprepared for the tidal wave of emotion with which his father had greeted her.And Father…**

**Diego still felt the rightness of what he and Minta had done on board the ship, but the guilt of disappointing his father yet again stabbed at him.He sighed sadly, wondering once more, why the joy he felt at finally being home was tempered with so much pain.He shut his eyes, wishing he could close out the guilt he felt as well.**

**The silk cape lay draped neatly across the little table under the sword.He fingered its smoothness.It, too, exuded a feeling of dark, lethal power.He saw memories of his sorties as Zorro, not totally complete yet, but still enough to show him the deadly choice that he had made.Frowning, Diego tried to remember the first time he donned the mask.He saw in his mind a ship, the one of his early dreams.He saw another man with a sword, dueling with him.It was a friendly fight and he won.He saw Bernardo, a letter…it was from his father.He remembered a decision there; the germ of what soon became Zorro.He saw so much and yet, he felt that there were still tiny pieces missing here and there.He had felt joy when he had donned the disguise and saved a man, and he had felt hurt when he remembered the look in his father’s eyes, a look that spoke volumes about disappointment when the old man thought his son was a coward.He felt the same kinds of joy and pain now as well.It seemed that such things never ended.**

**So intent was he on his inner turmoil that he did not realize that someone else was in the room with him until he felt a hand on his shoulder.“Diego, my son.”Alejandro’s voice was low and full of emotion, but which emotion Diego was unable to tell.**

**“Homecomings are supposed to be joyful,” Diego said simply, before he could stop himself.**

**Alejandro’s grip tightened before the hand loosened and fell away.Alejandro’s own hurt didn’t keep him from seeing the inner turmoil that his son was dealing with.“Yes, the first one was not very pleasant either, was it?”**

**“No, and I caused you pain then, too.”**

**“Diego, my son…” Alejandro began and then waited.After a short pause, Diego turned to him.Their troubled eyes locked.“I do not think that I will entirely forgive these Rantiri for what they did to you,” Alejandro said.“I have found your . . . wife to be charming, intelligent and totally devoted to you.She loves you.”He paused, not knowing how to quite express the feelings that he had in his heart at the moment.“But she reminds me of the people who took you, caused you so much pain and suffering.I keep seeing in my mind, the one who took your place, who had a piece of your soul, who was left here to sacrifice himself for this cause of theirs.It is so painful for me, because it was like seeing you die.I . . . I suspect it will fade as I get to know Minta even more, learn to love her as a daughter, but you will have to be patient with me, Diego.”**

**Diego nodded.“Father…” he also paused, reining in the tumultuous thoughts, trying to sort them.“Father, I deeply apologize for the hurt my decisions have caused you.The marriage…”**

**“Diego, it is not just the idea that you married out of the Church.I understand that better now.You did not have all your memories back.”**

**“Father, I do not regret uniting with Minta, even now, even after most of my memories have returned.It is that you were not there.That causes the most pain for me.”**

**“You do not regret marrying her out of the Church?”A touch of irritation flared, but he squelched it.**

**“No . . . not really.Even then, I wondered about the repercussions of this decision, but there is something that told me then and continues to tell me now, that there is a reason we went ahead with the marriage.There is an ultimate purpose,” Diego explained, feeling that the words were inadequate.“I cannot explain it, Father.It just is.”**

**“I cannot understand it, either, my son, but I will do my best to respect the decision you made.I hope that you will do your best to respect what you have been taught now that you are home,” Alejandro said, his voice stern enough to tell Diego that there was no arguing with his decision.**

**“Of course, Father.”Diego paused and then gave him a reassuring smile.“I have only kissed Minta once since this morning and that was in your presence,” Diego teased mildly.**

**Alejandro gazed deeply into his son’s eyes, and was satisfied to see that along with the touch of humor, there was also a serious understanding of what he was saying.He also saw the intense suffering that this ordeal had caused his son.He saw it heaped up on the anguish and emotional turmoil that Diego had experienced since his return from Spain. _Oh, my son, my son, so much pain_ , he thought.Could he possibly cause more hurt and suffering over one who had brought a touch of joy and brightness into his life?Even if she belonged to a race he could neither understand nor sympathize with?No, he couldn’t.If Minta brought Diego happiness, he had to do his best to make her welcome.He sighed.And it was easy to see why his son loved her so.**

**Suddenly his feelings overwhelmed him.“Oh, Diego, my son.It is so good that you are home.”No more words would come, he could only grasp his son in a fatherly embrace that spoke of the intense love and pride that he had for his only son.**

**“It is good to be back home,” Diego returned, his arms wrapping around his father.**

**================**

**Throughout the day, plans were made, discussed at length, discarded or accepted, changed, and discussed some more.Finally it was decided that Diego and Minta would leave the secret cave under the cover of darkness and travel to San Pedro, telling everyone they had just ridden from San Diego.There they would get rooms at the inn, arriving at the hacienda the next day.**

**It was decided that Minta was a visitor from a far country, that they had met while he was on his trip, and that they had fallen in love.All of this was true to the extent that it went, and would hopefully explain Minta’s physical differences.Alejandro found a pair of his wife’s riding gloves that were still in useable shape and gave them to her, admonishing her to keep them on in public.He then sent Bernardo into the pueblo after something more suitable for her to wear when they rode into San Pedro, something that was plain, and that would not be recognized by the merchant as his.The mozo had looked embarrassed until Alejandro gave him a note for the merchant explaining the outfit was for his niece in Monterey.**

**“But why is it so important, Don Alejandro?” she asked.“This is the second time you have said something about my hands.”**

**“Because when Diego was kidnapped, there were witnesses,” Don Alejandro said, seriously.“They described demons with black skins, white hair and long, spider-like fingers.”He looked a bit embarrassed.“I am sorry, but I am just repeating what circulated until the other Diego, and consequently Zorro, returned and laid those rumors to rest.”**

**“I will do my best not to give anyone reason to think that I am a demon,” Minta said to both men with a slight smile.**

**“It is no laughing matter, my dear.As you have probably surmised, Hell is a very real place.We do not question its reality.It is inhabited with those who are Satan’s followers, in all forms and guises.Your people, by their actions, fit that description very easily.I tell you these precautions so that your life with Diego will not be troubled by such things.”**

**Minta sobered quickly, remembering Diego’s reaction to the spaceship.“I know, Don Alejandro, Diego pointed that out to me, and I appreciate your concern.I will be careful,” Minta said, contritely.She wished that there was a way to change her hair color, but there seemed to be nothing that was available to do that.What she most appreciated was Don Alejandro’s willingness to listen and accept her after his initial outburst.She still felt embarrassed by her display of tears and she couldn’t understand her explosive outpouring of emotion, but it seemed to have been the very thing that was needed to make Diego’s father rethink his own feelings.Now she was seeing him the way Diego had described him, warm, caring and concerned.**

**“And as soon as you are back, you and Diego will go see Padre Felipe,” Alejandro added sternly.**

**“Yes, Father,” Diego said, simultaneously with Minta’s “Yes, Don Alejandro.”**

**Minta thought about the plans that had been made, wondering what made her feel that something was missing.Suddenly, from behind her, she heard a noise, a patterned clopping of something hard against the stone floor.Then a snorting that seemed to come from something very large.Before she could turn around, she heard Diego’s exclamation, “Tornado!”**

**When she turned, she saw what seemed to her a huge animal, black as midnight, with bright flashing eyes.This must be the horse that Diego had told her about, Zorro’s stallion.He approached the animal with no hesitation, but Tornado snorted again and backed up.Turning, Diego looked questioningly at his father.**

**“Ah, Diego, you smell strange to him.It took Tornado some time to get used to your substitute,” Alejandro explained.“And he was free for a couple of weeks, roaming and servicing the mares in heat on the hacienda.It took Bernardo and I two nights to coax him to a nearby box canyon.”He paused and then added in a more somber tone, “We could not bring him back here, because it was too hard for us to come down to the cave to take care of him.”Nodding, Diego turned back to the stallion.**

**Minta heard Diego’s soft voice murmuring comfort to the stallion and soon saw the eyes of the animal change from fear to recognition.The soft looking nose rubbed against her beloved’s chest and Diego laughed, his pleasure evident.He rubbed Tornado’s muzzle and then around his ears and down his neck.“Ah, my friend, we will have to go for a ride sometime soon, you and I.”Tornado nickered, pushing against Diego’s chest with his nose.**

**Then as she watched the interplay between the horse and her husband, it hit her.“I have never been around an animal such as that.I don’t know how to ride one,” she said, looking at the huge black stallion with a touch of fear. _How in the world can we pull off this subterfuge if I can’t even ride a horse_?She looked anxiously at the two men, whose anxious faces probably matched her own.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-six**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories26.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	27. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-six**

**The two men looked at her, dismayed that they had not thought of such a possibility.Don Alejandro spoke first.“Then our plans will be delayed for a day.I will bring in a gelding for you to get used to, then at night, we will teach you to ride well enough to get by.”**

**“Minta, come and greet Tornado.He will be your first teacher,” Diego said brightly, one hand on the horse’s neck, the other held out for his wife.**

**She put her hand gently in his and let him pull her toward him. Tornado snorted, shook his head, then snuffled their joined hands.Not waiting for Diego’s instructions, Minta reached up, her fingers lightly touching the ebony stallion’s nose.**

**Alejandro audibly sucked in his breath, remembering the substitute’s initial problem with horses.**

**Tornado stood statue still, only his nostrils quivering, blowing warm breath on her hand.“It’s so soft, like… like…”She paused and looked up at Diego, unable to find the right word in her adopted language.**

**“Like velvet,” Diego prompted.**

**“Yes, whatever that is,” she said, with a soft musical laugh.**

**“Stroke along his neck,” Diego said.“He likes that.”**

**She did and was delighted when the magnificent stallion turned and nuzzled her, gently running his rubbery lips along her arm.Alejandro let his breath out in a whoosh. Puzzled, she turned and looked at Diego’s father curiously.**

**Diego turned with her.“I cannot help but feel that you expected something else to happen,” he said.**

**“Your substitute had to work hard to get the horses used to him.They were frightened at first,” Alejandro explained.**

**“It is because Tornado trusts me,” Diego said matter-of-factly.“And Minta is unafraid.”He turned back to the stallion.“We will go out tonight and race the wind, my friend,” he murmured.**

**“May I go with you?” Minta asked, eager to learn what is was like to ride the wonderful animal.**

**“Minta, mi amor, this is Zorro’s horse,” Diego said simply.“We can begin your riding lessons after I return,” he added.**

**“He is a fitting companion to Zorro, I think,” she said, turning back and stroking the arched neck.Diego handed her a brush and showed Minta the proper way to curry him. As she stroked the glossy hide with the brush, Diego walked to his father’s side and stood next to him, watching Minta intently.**

**“She has a natural affinity for animals, I think.I hope the other horses feel the same way toward her as Tornado, my son,” Alejandro said, his arms folded across his chest and a smile on his face.He turned to Diego and said quietly, “She has strength, Diego.”**

**“I know she does, Father.She found out who I was and planned my escape.Fate or my patron saint had a hand in our meeting.”**

**“That, Diego, is an understatement,” Alejandro said with a chuckle.“In no other way could something so unbelievable happen to a person.”**

**Diego laughed with his father.Minta continued currying Tornado, working her way from his withers to his hindquarters.**

**“You are going out tonight, my son?”**

**“Sí, I think that Zorro should make an appearance.You did say it had been several weeks since my duplicate died?”**

**“Yes, and Tornado has been roaming during part of that time,” Alejandro said, and then paused, watching Minta work while his mind dwelt in the past.“But I doubt very much that Bernardo would have wanted to go out even if Tornado had been here,” he added, seeing the neglected cape heaped near the horse’s little stall.**

**Diego simply nodded and stepped forward to join Minta when she turned to him, beaming with pride in her accomplishment.**

**“Oh, Diego, he is so beautiful.So magnificent!Are all the other horses this marvelous?”**

**Taking the brush from her and putting it with the other tack, he then took her hands in his.He laughed softly.“No, querida, there is no other horse like Tornado.”Raising her hands to his lips, he kissed them, his eyes fixing on hers and lingering there.“Soon,” he murmured.“We will be officially married according to my customs and then it will be like it was on the ship.”**

**=================**

**In the darkness of the late night, in the little secret room off of his bedroom, Diego put on each part of his disguise as Bernardo handed it to him.The shirt, the sash, the bandanna, the mask, the sword in its scabbard, the cape and the hat.As each piece went on, more bits of memory fell into place, until he felt almost as complete in his mind as he did in his clothing.He was awed by the process and knew he had dressed much more slowly for that very reason.When he turned to Bernardo, the manservant had a broad grin on his face.It was as though the mute was feeling the same emotions.**

**“All is right with the world, eh, Bernardo?” Diego asked happily.The mute nodded brightly as he watched the black clad man grasp the sconce and head down the stone steps.**

**And, indeed, as far as Bernardo was concerned, all was right with the world.He watched his patrón slip out of the room, like a black ghost, the lantern in the gloved hand causing shadows to dance on the cave walls and ceilings as he passed.With a smile the mute began dusting off the brocaded clothing that had been left behind.**

**In the outer chamber, Minta continued staring at the wondrous animal before her.He had his saddle and bridle on and he seemed eager to leave.His front hoof was pawing at the hard rock floor; his head was bobbing up and down, causing the reins to shake in anticipation.A slight noise behind her caused her to turn.She assumed that Diego had returned, or perhaps the mute servant, Bernardo.She gasped at what she saw.It was a figure all in black, masked, cloaked and walking with all the grace of a hunting brisal.At her look of surprise, the figure smiled, his eyes behind the mask full of good humor and mischief.**

**“Zorro!” she exclaimed, realizing that this was the alter ego that Diego had told her about.“So this is what Zorro looks like,” she added, noting how the black costume made him seem leaner, more feral, and grim, but the smile tempered that seriousness.**

**“You are quick, cara mia,” Zorro told her with a soft laugh.**

**“How could I not recognize you?I know you intimately by now, querido,” Minta countered with a smile.As he approached, she reached out and touched the fabric of his sleeve.It was a deep, dull black.Her fingers were only slightly lighter in color. _He is like two people.One is Rantiri and one is Californiano.Yet the person who looks most Rantiri is the dangerous one, the person who must use violence, while Diego, who looks so different from my people, is gentle and more like a Rantiri inside,_ she thought, wondering at the irony of her musings.**

**He paused and looked into her violet eyes, and then he held her gently in his arms and kissed her passionately.When he stepped back, he touched her cheek lightly with one gloved hand before opening the little stall, leading Tornado out and mounting.With a salute, he swept through the brush and was gone.**

**Zorro rode into a night that had been freshened and cleansed by a recent rain.As he and Tornado stood on the crest of a hill, he reveled in being in this spot.There was a slight breeze that blew under the brim of his hat, and ruffled the cape that flowed down his back.There was a slight hint of blossoms and wet earth, all vying for ascendancy with the smell of juniper and pine.It was heady, almost like the first taste of a vintage wine, and Zorro continued to stand quietly, drinking it in.**

**Finally, he smiled, laughed out loud, startling a roosting owl into a burst of indignant commentary, and then he lightly kicked Tornado into a gallop, heading toward the pueblo.Instantly complying, the stallion ran freely and easily.His several weeks of freedom had toned muscles and increased wind.**

**Zorro let the stallion run at his own pace, along roads that his recently restored memory supplied with names.Tornado kept up his pace until just outside the pueblo, only easing to a canter as he swept down streets and between buildings toward the plaza.A broken down cart was blocking one street.With only a nudge of his knees and a tightening grip on the reins, they sailed over it, landing lightly on the other side.A dog barked once at their passage and then ducked into a doorway.The night watchman’s announcement of the midnight hour went only half said, the words frozen on his lips as the dark pair rushed by.When he had recognized who it was, gotten over his shock and resumed his announcement, it was in a slightly happier voice.**

**Riding to the back wall of the cuartel, Zorro motioned to Tornado to wait for him.Then he stood on the horse’s back, climbed onto the roof and sped stealthily across the thatching.Feet and mind remembered numerous similar forays.He wanted to laugh again, but he didn’t want his first excursion after his return to be his last.Who knows, the sentries may have been practicing in his absence.He chuckled softly to himself, the exhilaration of his midnight ride almost too much to contain.**

**He easily avoided the one sentry walking languidly just inside the slightly open gate, jumping lightly from one roof to another until he had reached the rooms where the soldiers were billeted.He easily remembered which room was Sergeant Garcia’s.Although there was a window to the obese soldier’s room that would have made access easer, Zorro was enjoying the little things that he had missed for so long.Easily grasping the edge of the roof and swinging on to the balcony, the outlaw slipped silently to Garcia’s doorway.Testing the latch, he found it to be unlocked.The latch, to his relief, slid up quietly. _Not that it matters,_ he thought. _My good friend snores loud enough to wake the dead saints!_ He crept inside, slowly unsheathing the sword and using its point to tickle the underside of the sergeant’s ample chin.**

**The snoring paused, continued a bit softer, paused again.Garcia snorted and sucked in air.Finally, as the sword continued to tickle, he began coming to full wakefulness.He woke to see in the dim light, a shadow, something so dark that it could only be seen by the vague and shadowy outline.There was a tiny gleam on the edge of the sword.“Z…Zorro!” he finally gasped.**

**“Sí, Sergeant.You are lax these days,” Zorro said, his face lit with a bright smile.**

**“It… it has been a…long time, Señor Zorro,” Garcia stammered.**

**“There have been terrible rumors, sergeant….”**

**“Rumors?Oh…about you?Sí,” Garcia said. “The soldiers have been laying wagers as to whether you are dead or not.”**

**“I simply came here to lay that rumor to rest.I am very much alive and well.”A perfectly wicked thought came to his mind then.“Adios, sergeant,” he said, saluting the disheveled man and slipping out the door.Quickly he padded along the balcony until he came to the stairs, where he once again climbed to the roof.On the other side of the cuartel, he climbed down once more, standing in front of the comandante’s office.He picked up an iron bar and began ringing the triangular metal alarm.It’s clanging resounded in the stillness of the early morning.Thumps, muffled cries and opening doors soon accompanied the ear shattering clanging.Soldiers poured from their barracks, trying desperately to pull on trousers without tripping.Some succeeded, while others did not.Zorro laughed, lay down the metal bar and once again climbed to the roof.The soldier at the gate simply stood, gaping at him, his musket at his side.**

**“Lancers, I am here to settle a bet.Those of you who bet that I was dead have lost.I congratulate the winners.Adios, muchachos,” he called out, laughing loud and long.As he raced across the roof toward the place where he had left Tornado, Zorro heard someone remind the guard that he had a gun.He barely heard the click of a musket hammer being set into place.Crouching, the outlaw kept his running pace, still grinning over his ‘welcome home’ joke.The musket banged, the boom reverberating in the now still air.The ball whistled well to his right and he laughed yet again.Standing tall, he gave the half-dressed men a full two armed salute, with a partial bow before he turned and raced away.He reached the edge of the roof, glanced over, calculated his jump, and dropped, landing squarely on Tornado’s back.The stallion snorted, and then at his master’s direction, galloped toward the plaza.Zorro was still laughing as he swept across the plaza and out of the pueblo.**

**The night air was exhilarating, filled with the mysterious sounds that he had come to enjoy so much.Tree frogs peeped, coyotes cried to one another, owls hooted.A small creature screamed quickly before the sound was cut off. _Something would eat tonight_ , he thought, giving Tornado his head and letting him pick the trail as well.At the crest of a hill, Zorro pulled the stallion to a stop and listened.There were no sounds of pursuit, no sounds at all except for natural sounds of the land.It was as he figured.The lancers were too stunned by his appearance to act quickly and Sgt. Garcia would most likely tell them not to bother.**

**Zorro set a leisurely pace back home, dismounting before entering the cave, hoping not to make too much noise.Most likely Minta would be already asleep.Just inside the entrance, there was the old gelding that had been selected for Minta, placidly chewing on hay.Zorro uncinched Tornado’s saddle and placed it in the corner where the tack was kept.He did the same with the bridle.Before letting the stallion into his stall to eat, he brushed him, taking more pleasure in that chore than he ever had before.When he was finished, he watched with great satisfaction as Tornado chewed on his grain.Suddenly he felt arms around his middle and reached down to feel Minta’s hands.**

**“Mi amor,” Minta said.“I am so glad you got back safely.Was it a good ride?”**

**“Sí, it was a very good ride,” he answered.“Now, tell me what you think about your horse.”**

**“He is nice, but not nearly as magnificent as Tornado.He didn’t want me to come near him at first, but he is fine now.I even got up on his back and walked around outside the cave on him,” Minta said, her voice full of excitement.“And I didn’t fall off once.”**

**“Ah, querida, I will make a horsewoman of you yet,” Diego said with a chuckle.**

**She grinned mischievously and then reached up with one hand, loosening the knot that held his mask in place.With the other hand, she gently pulled his disguise away from his face and kissed him.**

**Laughing, Diego said, “Now what will I do with you, enamorada?You have unmasked Zorro.”**

**“You can kiss me,” she answered, her laugh echoing musically in the cave.**

**He kissed her tenderly, and then with more passion.After a short while, he reluctantly pulled away.“If we keep this up, my father will be down here to chaperone us,” he said with a sigh.“But I am sleepy.You must leave me until morning.”Diego walked up the steps to his bedroom, where he made sure that the outer door was locked securely before he returned to the secret cave and his bed of hay.He lay awake feeling lonely without his wife.Finally, with a sigh, he rolled over and fell into a dreamless sleep.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-seven**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories27.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	28. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**In the darkness following the setting of the crescent moon, two riders, who almost seemed to have materialized from thin air, rode along a narrow path toward the southwest.It had been two days since the beginning of Minta’s riding lessons, and Diego and Alejandro had deemed her capable enough to make the journey to San Pedro.The only illumination was from the stars overhead and Diego eased his horse along the path with slow deliberation.Although he was pretty sure of his memory with respect to the way to San Pedro, he didn’t want to take a chance of injuring either themselves or the horses because he was in a hurry.**

**“It’s so dark, Diego,” Minta said, her eyes peering into the blackness of the late evening.**

**“Yes, but the horses are sure-footed and we are going slowly.Just stay close behind me,” Diego said.As he concentrated on the path ahead of them, he refrained from saying any more.Minta, taking a cue from his silence, said nothing.After a while, she noticed that the steep hillsides had fallen away.Minta wasn’t sure which was less comforting, the narrow path lined with spectral fingered bushes and trees, and strewn with rocks and boulders that seemed to be hiding myriads of animals, or the open darkness where she could see almost nothing.She looked up at the heavens, awed at the twinkling, sparkling blanket above her.There was nothing quite so magnificent back on Rantir.She looked toward Diego and saw his dim outline in front of her.**

**“Minta, come on up beside me.The road is wide enough for us to ride abreast,” Diego instructed.**

**Carefully, Minta tapped the gelding with her heels.When nothing happened, she tapped harder, and then realized she had been pulling back on the reins.Chagrined, Minta relaxed, remembered everything she was supposed to do and was pleased when she felt the gelding respond.As she rode along side Diego, she recalled a conversation she had had with Diego on Rantir.“Do you remember when you offered to drive a commuter so I could sleep?” she asked.**

**“Yes, you said it was very complicated,” he answered.**

**“I think riding a horse is every bit as complicated,” she said wryly.**

**“It will be easier in time,” Diego assured her, his laugh warm and infectious.“You will begin to feel the horse beneath you and understand what they are thinking and how they act under different circumstances,” Diego continued.“The reins will become an extension of your hands.”**

**“At least a commuter does not think,” she quipped.“Well, not much, anyway.”Diego chuckled.“How can you tell where the trail is?” Minta asked, leaning forward and straining to see the trail in the darkness ahead.**

**“There is light, mi amor,” Diego told her.“Not much, but enough.And the horse’s senses are acute as well.”**

**“Hmm, I suppose your night vision has sharpened with your….”**

**“Yes, and the stars are bright tonight,” he quickly said, anticipating the rest of her statement.“It does not happen often, but sometimes there are others traveling at night,” he added, his voice much softer.“I have to be very careful in public places about references to my other activities, enamorada.”**

**“Oh, I’m sorry, Diego.”Her chagrin was plain to hear.**

**“Por nada,” he assured her.“We must both be careful.”**

**They rode in silence for a while longer, Diego quickening their pace to a trot.As they skirted Los Angeles, they saw several dwellings, large and small, most dark, some with burning candles sending soft inviting light their way.However, they stayed well away from these.“We will travel quietly from here on out, querida,” Diego whispered, leaning close.Before pulling away, he kissed her quickly.“It will not take us too much longer to get to San Pedro.”**

**Within an hour they had reached the little port town and the inn near the harbor.When they walked in the door, they found the room empty except for the innkeeper who was wiping tables.The wizened little man looked up in surprise.“We are closed, señor,” he said.**

**“We do not seek refreshment, only rooms; one for myself and one for my fiancé,” Diego said.**

**The old man stared at Minta, his eyes showing a mixture of bewilderment and curiosity.“We have only one room available, señor.**

**”**

**Diego shrugged; there had been no sleep before they had ridden out.The preparations had taken all of the day and into the evening and he was tired enough that it didn’t matter where he slept as long as Minta had a comfortable place.He noticed the innkeeper’s rapt gaze at his wife.Her clothing was well suited for travel but still showing her status as one of the upper class members of society.Her hair had been pulled back, braided and was hidden under her hat.He frowned and stated, “Then the señorita will sleep in your empty room.”**

**“But Diego…” Minta protested.**

**“It is fine, querida.I will be near and tomorrow we will finish the journey.”**

**“But where will you sleep?” she asked.**

**“Probably with the horses,” he replied.Diego turned to the innkeeper.“You do have a stable, yes?”**

**“Sí, but señor…”**

**“Unless you have another room, I see no alternative,” Diego said, all the while thinking of the perfect alternative.He sighed, remembering his promise.**

**The innkeeper nodded and went to the bar where he pulled out a book.“Put the young lady’s name, please.”Diego took the book and wrote the information.“Minta…Morlif-Brocnor,” the innkeeper said with a slight hesitation, looking up at them.“Do you have any belongings to be carried to your room?” he asked.**

**“No, señor.We had…problems on our journey,” Diego said vaguely.**

**“Robbed?” the innkeeper asked.Diego just shrugged.The old man glanced at the entry again and then looked up, puzzled.“Where is this Rantir?” he asked.**

**“It is a very distant country,” Diego answered truthfully.**

**“Very distant indeed,” the man replied, gazing at Minta yet again.**

**She looked somewhat uncomfortable under his scrutiny, but Diego could see her chin rise with determination to put on a good front.Her eyes never wavered from the old man’s.He would have to talk to her about womanly demure behavior, at least until people were more used to her.Staring them down would not make his acquaintances more comfortable in her presence.**

**“Come with me.”The innkeeper led the way up the stairs.Diego took Minta’s hand, squeezing it lightly to reassure her, and they followed the old man up to an open door, and into a pitch-dark room.With a sure step borne of practice and familiarity, he lit a candle next to the bed.“Señorita, if there is anything you need, please ask,” the innkeeper said.**

**“Everything is fine, thank you,” Minta said, her voice low as she gazed around the room.**

**The old man hesitated.Diego waved his hand in dismissal.“Leave the door open,” he said.When the innkeeper left, Diego took Minta in his arms and held her close.“You will be safe here, my darling.I will be close by. I promise. In fact, I will be your knight and sleep outside your door.You sleep well.”He kissed her and then left, pulling the door closed behind him.**

**Near the top of the stairs was a chair.He glanced at it and then walked lightly down the stairs where the innkeeper stood waiting.“Señor, do you have a helper who could stable mine and the señorita’s horses?”When the man nodded, he continued, pulling out a coin and handing it him.“Then have him do so.I will sleep in the chair at the top of the stairs.This is the señorita’s first trip away from her home, and I do not wish to be far away if she becomes frightened.”**

**“Sí, señor, if you wish.”**

**The next day after an early breakfast, where the couple seemed to be the main attraction, they left the inn, riding quickly along the well-traveled roads to Los Angeles.This time there was none of the furtiveness of the night before.As far as everyone knew, Don Diego was returning from San Diego.No livestock had been purchased, but Don Alejandro’s announcement to the servants on the de la Vega rancho the day before, that Don Diego was returning with a señorita whom he was planning to marry, had quickly spread all over the pueblo.That bit of news created a stir almost as great as the rumors that Zorro had been taken by demons or killed.**

**As the couple entered the pueblo, tongues wagged like dogs’ tails.‘Ah, the announcement was true.’‘Don Diego was truly engaged and the girl he was engaged to—ai!’‘Where did this unusual woman come from?‘What family did she represent,’ the whisperers asked?‘Was she from Africa?’‘Did some Africans have hair so light or eyes like amethysts?’Where ever she was from and whoever she was, she had certainly bewitched Don Diego de la Vega.He could not take his eyes off of her.His smile was much brighter, his laugh so much happier in her presence.**

**Crescencia Lopez, one of the de la Vega’s housekeepers, watched the young man she had helped to raise.She could not immediately decide whether she was pleased or concerned for him.Don Diego was so very happy, so much happier than he had been the past two years, that it made her feel happy, too, but when she saw the object of his affections, she paused in her musings, shocked. _Where could such a one have come from?_ she thought.This girl was the blackest la negra she had ever seen.And her hair—soft and almost white, cascading down her back to a point just below her shoulder blades.Her eyes held Don Diego’s, and Crescencia could see adoration, deep and abiding, in them.**

**“Ai!What could Don Alejandro’s son be thinking, bringing a girl such as that into the pueblo!” Maria Louisa said disdainfully, hating the strange woman immediately.The daughter of the de la Vega cook made a quick sign against evil before hiding her hands from the older woman, who frowned at her sudden and vehement outburst.**

**“Why do you say that?” Cresencia asked evenly, getting rid of her frown, and hiding her irritation at this girl’s quickly formed assessment.She, herself, wondered about this love of Don Diego’s, but she was willing to learn more about her before passing judgment.The world was a very large place, and even though this part of it was very seldom visited, it would stand to reason that there could be people like this strange woman residing in it somewhere.**

**“She is probably a bruha, a priestess of the devil from Cuba or Africa.They tame snakes, I hear, and make them do their bidding.And they are dark, black as night, these African witches.”**

**“That is enough!” Cresencia hissed.“Do you think that Don Diego is so stupid as to fall in love with a witch?Shame on you, Maria Louisa!There are many of the Negro blood in California as well as many mulattos.”**

**“But white hair and violet eyes?She is a witch and she has cursed Don Diego,” Maria Louisa said, impenitent.**

**“You will keep quiet, or I will talk to Don Alejandro about letting you work with the stable hands, mucking out the stalls.Do you understand me?”**

**“Sí, I understand,” the young woman said sullenly.**

**“We will at least get to know her before we make our judgments.And besides, Don Alejandro will have the last word in the matter.”Maria Louisa just shrugged.“I am serious,” Crescencia added.“You will start no rumors. If I hear of any…”**

**“I hear you, I said.”**

**“Good.”Crescencia turned, hoping that in all of the noise and bustle of the plaza their conversation had truly been private.She was relieved that no one seemed to be very close to them.**

**From across the plaza Diego saw her and reined his horse over to where she was standing.The strange señorita followed him.“Crescencia, you are a sight for sore eyes!” he declared, his smile warm as sunshine.**

**Crescencia blushed and smiled back.She had always loved this boy and it really did do her heart good to see him so happy.“Don Diego, it would seem flattery indeed considering the _señorita_ by your side,” she said with a smile.**

**Don Diego laughed merrily.“Crescencia, this is Minta Morlif-Brocnor, the future Señora de la Vega.”Turning to Minta, he added, “And this is Crescencia Lopez, who took care of me from the time I was a little boy.”**

**“What a pretty name, señorita,” Cresencia said, giving a slight bow.**

**“Gracias, Crescencia,” Minta said, smiling warmly.“And what a wonderful job you did!”Diego looked a bit discomfited at the praise, as did Crescencia.**

**“Don Diego, do you not think that you need to talk to your father about that kind of future?” Crescencia asked teasingly, but wondering deep inside what Don Alejandro’s feelings would be upon meeting this señorita.She wondered, also, about this woman’s status in life, not that such should be the primary concern.Crescencia just knew that status was of some concern to Don Alejandro. _Ai!I must follow my own words and trust Don Diego._**

**“Of course I should, Crescencia, and we are going to the hacienda right now.”He gave a slight hand salute and motioning to the señorita, turned his horse.They trotted out of the plaza side by side.**

**Two basket weavers listening in the shadows of their stalls crossed themselves as the two riders passed.They shook their heads and wondered at how easily some of the caballeros could be swayed by the spells of a bruha.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-eight**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories28.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	29. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-eight**

**Outside the pueblo, Minta stopped her horse.“What is it, mi carina?” Diego asked.**

**“Diego, that woman, Crescencia Lopez, seemed very nice but the other one…”**

**Diego paused a moment, concentrating.“Maria Louisa?The slender girl with Crescencia?” Diego asked, his eyes clouding a bit at what he had seen in the plaza.He had hoped that Minta had not noticed, but apparently the girl’s looks of hatred and distrust were apparent to everyone around, including his betrothed.**

**“Sí, that is the one.She looked at me as though I was something… something evil, making motions with her fingers.”**

**Diego sighed.He searched his memory for everything that he remembered about Maria Louisa.It wasn’t much.Not, he thought, because he couldn’t remember, but because of the inconvenience she had brought on him after he had returned from Spain.Maria Louisa’s mother, Juanita, was a very efficient cook, as well as a pleasant person, but the daughter was almost a perfect opposite of the mother.She was surly and lazy.Only when he was in the room did she smile, and do her best work.Diego had not even realized her less desirable side until he had said something to Bernardo one day and the mozo had explained to him that the girl only acted civil in his presence.Diego remembered his bewilderment at that comment, and was embarrassed when the mute told him that the girl was infatuated with him.He had then realized that she had often found a way out of the kitchen and into parts of the house where he was at the time.It had made slipping out to ride as Zorro much more difficult for a while.Diego had finally had to tell her that he was not interested in her. At the time he was afraid that he had been too abrupt and had caused her a great deal of hurt, but after time, when she had not bothered him anymore, and had not seemed to be overly upset, he had forgotten the matter.**

**Diego grimaced, well aware that Minta had probably made an instant enemy.“Minta, the girl, Maria Louisa, was once infatuated with me.I think part of what you were seeing is her jealously.”**

**“But what about the others.What do those finger movements mean?”Her voice was full of bewilderment and hurt.Diego also heard an undercurrent of fear.He ached for Minta and hoped that all of this would ease as his friends and neighbors got to know her.He had also been aware of the finger sketches made by several others in the plaza, and he knew that their purpose was to ward off evil.“Minta, some people do that to the gypsies and Jews, anyone who is not a Californiano.”**

**“What are gypsies and Jews?” Minta asked, confused.**

**Diego sighed again.With his memories only recently returned and questionably intact, this would be difficult to explain.He wished that his mind worked faster than his tongue, then he could have explained without the use of those specific examples.“Gypsies are people who usually do not settle in one place.They are thought to come from a far away country, have mysterious customs and make their living stealing and using magic.They do come from far away, some of their customs do seem mysterious, but I doubt that the latter is true except for a few.Jews are a people whose religion is different, and therefore their customs are different as well.”Diego paused, unwilling to go into all the particulars of either group, or of any of the myriads of other groups that had been discriminated against through the ages.“The point is, Minta, they are unlike my people, and some individuals do not trust or like those who are different; they fear them.There will always be those who will judge based only on one’s appearance.I cannot stop that.You can only reveal your inner self and those who will truly be your friends will take the time to see who you really are.”Diego reached over and took her gloved hand.“They will see what a wonderful person you are.”**

**Minta smiled and hoped he was right.“Thank you, Diego,” she said softly.Still she was apprehensive about her chances of fitting into Diego’s society.She feared the girl in the plaza.From that one she had felt a hatred that was at once repellant and confusing to her.Minta simply could not understand such raw and powerful feelings.But she had to trust Diego.Going home was not an option even if she had wanted to.Then she remembered that Diego was a product of this people as well, so all in this world were not like the girl or some of the other women that she had seen.**

**“Come, querida, let us see just how fast your gelding can run,” Diego challenged, trying to lighten her mood.**

**With a laugh, Minta kicked her horse into a canter and finally into a full gallop.Although his palomino was easily capable of beating her old gelding, he only ran ahead of her for a short distance.When they galloped over the hill overlooking the hacienda, Diego eased back into a light canter and then into a slow trot.Side by side they rode up to the paneled gate that quickly opened up to reveal a smiling boy, one not more than half-grown.**

**“Pepito!” Diego cried, genuinely glad to see the boy.**

**“Patrón!” the boy said, taking each horse by its bridle.“Welcome home, and welcome, señorita.”He bowed to Minta.“Don Alejandro told us only yesterday evening that you were coming home soon.”He turned to Diego.“He only got your letter yesterday, Don Diego.It would seem that you almost beat the mail coach,” he added.He turned back to Minta and stared at her in frank curiosity.She saw nothing in the boy’s gaze that resembled hostility or fear, but after the brief stop in the plaza, she was wary of anyone’s searching stare and felt uncomfortable when he continued to gape at her.She wondered if Diego had felt the same way on her world, then decided that most of the looks were like this boy’s, curious, somewhat puzzled, but not hostile.Satisfied, she smiled to reassure Pepito.**

**Then she thought about the other thing that seemed strange to her.‘Boy.’This was a boy and there had been children in the pueblo, children of varying sizes and ages.It seemed so very peculiar that there would be people in those stages of development.What would it be like to have a child around, someone who had been ‘born’ and had to learn to walk or talk because they simply had not developed or grown enough to walk or talk?What would it be like to watch the slow growth and progress of such a one?Curious, Minta determined to talk with Pepito.She longed to hold a baby and hoped that there were such on Diego’s hacienda.**

****

**Diego quickly dismounted and then helped Minta down from her gelding.An older servant with longish gray hair took the horses and led them away.His outfit, like the boy’s, was plain white cloth, not the least bit fancy like the clothes that Diego wore, or even the utilitarian riding outfit that she wore.Diego had explained the distinction of classes to her when he had clarified Bernardo’s position to her several days ago, but she was able to see even more clearly now, just what he was talking about.**

**She was aware that there were strata in the Rantiri society, but nothing like there was here.On the Rantiri world, the classes were based more on ability…what one’s job was.Some jobs were more important than other jobs. Hers, for instance, was considered very important and she was well respected for it.Here it seemed to be based on birth, what family one was borne into.The servant boy certainly seemed happy and the older man didn’t seem unhappy by any means, but she wondered how they felt about their lot in life.So there were even more things to learn about after she had had an officially sanctioned marriage and was settled into full married life with Diego.**

**As Pepito reached for the heavy wooden gate in order to open it for them, he paused.His eyes still wide with curiosity, he asked, “Señorita, are all of your people as dark as you are?”Then he clapped his hand over his mouth, suddenly embarrassed by his boldness.**

**Minta gazed back at the dark haired boy, searching for any guile of any sort.As before, she saw none.“Most are, Pepito, although some are a bit lighter of skin than me.”There were still questions in the boy’s eyes.“And yes, most of my people have light hair and violet eyes.But we feel the same as you do on the inside.”**

**“Oh, I know that, patróna, or Don Diego would not have wanted to bring you here to be his wife.”**

**Minta sucked in her breath in surprise.She looked at Diego and saw his warm smile.His eyes said, ‘I told you so.’She turned back to Pepito.“Gracias, Pepito,” she said.**

**The boy opened the door and there stood Don Alejandro.The older man grasped Diego in a fatherly embrace and then he gazed in her direction.Minta had to admit that he dissembled this ‘first meeting’ very well.He showed brief surprise, then gracious hospitality, taking her by the elbow and escorting her into the sala, pulling out a seat for her to sit down in and ordering refreshments for them all.“This is a most delicious wine, Don Alejandro,” Minta said sincerely, understanding Diego’s pride in this product of his family’s land.**

**She had been surreptitiously looking around as they had bantered and gotten acquainted.Although it seemed primitive to her, the room, and indeed, the entire hacienda exuded a charm and elegance that reflected the graciousness of its owners.A small fire crackled and danced in a large fireplace.The chairs were carved and covered with rich material.There were creamy candles set on wrought iron candlesticks.Woven rugs of bright materials covered parts of the floor.All was cozy and comfortable.This was where she was going to live, she thought to herself happily.**

**She heard a soft chuckle and jerked her head around to see Diego smiling at her, his eyes bright and merry.Obviously she was not being surreptitious any more.“Are you pleased with this house, querida?” he asked.**

**She nodded.“It is very beautiful.And much more ornate and spacious than the home I lived in.”**

**“Graciás, my dear,” Don Alejandro said.“It was the hard work and efforts of my father who provided most of this.”**

**“You are too modest, Father.You have also improved what has always been a pleasant and comfortable home to this elegance.”Diego raised his glass in a salute to his father.**

**“You flatter me, my son.”Alejandro paused, finishing off his wine.“Shall we retire to the library where we can more comfortably discuss your future?” he suggested, a slight smile on his lips.**

**Diego nodded, got up and eased Minta’s chair back as she rose.Gently, he took her hand, letting his eyes linger on her eyes, trying to convey his heart to her in a few brief moments.He heard his father clearing his throat, and releasing her hand, he took her arm and guided her through the sala closely watched by his father.**

**Diego said in protest, “Father, please, we do not need a dueña _!_ ”**

**“Maybe, maybe not,” Alejandro teased, his eyes only partially serious.**

**Once inside the library, Alejandro closed that door and noted with satisfaction that Diego had had the good sense to leave a bit of space between their two chairs.He had seen the affection and love that his son had felt for Anna Maria Verdugo, but it came nowhere close to matching what he apparently felt for this girl.But then, he had gone through a semblance of a marriage ceremony and felt himself to be more of a husband than a suitor now.He remembered his feelings for his departed wife, Maria Isabella, right after he had married her and understood some of his son’s feelings.Sighing, he took a chair across from them.“My dear,” he said, addressing Minta.“You do realize that before you can marry Diego in a proper, sanctified ceremony, you must be baptized.”**

**“Baptized?” she asked, her face showing confusion at the term.**

**Turning to his son, he said, “Diego, you mean you did not explain what Minta would have to do when you arrived back home?”**

**Diego sat gazing into his wine glass.The dark red liquid remained translucent, showing him nothing.“Father, please forgive me, but my memory has returned mainly in visual images.Specific details, terms, and names, especially, are still coming to me.At first there were only vague pictures, things that seemed more like dreams than something that actually happened to me in the past.Then, as these images connected, they made more sense.At first, I did not even know my name.One day, I was looking into a cup with a drink much like champurrado and I saw a face and heard a voice.It was your face and your voice speaking to me, calling me, ‘Diego.’I knew it was my name.Something inside simply told me that, but I could not have explained how I knew.At that time, though, I did not know who you were.That came later.”Diego finished off the wine and continued. “I saw things that happened to me as a child, but could not tell you exactly when these things happened, who all the people were that I was seeing, or whether it happened before or after another event.I still have a little trouble with names, things that are complicated, like rituals of the Church and the like.It is frustrating.”**

**“But your language skills are impeccable.”**

**Smiling, Diego responded.“Yes, that is a puzzle.That came quickly, at about the same time that I mastered the Rantiri language.I have had no problem teaching Minta.And when I went out the other night, it was as though a bright light had been lit in my mind.Every aspect of that part of my life was crystal clear.”He shrugged.“I know that Minta needs the catechism and then the baptism, but it was not something I could verbalize to her.It was something that was deep inside me, known, but not realized.Am I making sense, Father?”**

**“I think I understand you.I am so grateful that most of the memories have come back to you.I had worried that when you returned, you would remember nothing of your life here.”**

**“Don Alejandro,” Minta said, interrupting.“I am amazed at how quickly Diego’s mind has recovered from this.Theoretically, such a procedure should have left nothing.I can only surmise that his mind rebelled and was powerful enough that all of his memories and feelings that made up his personality were pushed into a little used corner of his brain, there to come out when the time was right, when something triggered a certain memory.It has been so very wonderful seeing him emerge over the past months and seeing his will manifest itself in what he has achieved,” Minta said, looking at her husband with something akin to awe.“But please explain this baptism,” she added, seeing Diego’s slight embarrassment at this praise.**

**Alejandro gazed at the couple, also in awe of his son’s incredible strength and resolve.His admiration of the young lady sitting next to him rose as well, for he truly believed that it was her care and caring for Diego that allowed this recovery to happen so quickly.“Not just his will, my dear, but also your caring heart,” he said to Minta.She beamed at his praise and lowered her eyes.**

**Then he turned back to Diego.“My son, I knew it had to have been difficult, I just didn’t know how hard it was.”He sat back, gazed into the dying fire and sighed.“As to baptism, Minta, that is where one is made a member of the Holy Church.”He stopped, feeling it was best at this point to not try to give the Rantiri woman more than she could handle.**

**“I had assumed that in order to marry Diego in his religion, I would have to join it,” Minta said. “And I am more than willing to do that.”**

**“But you will have to be taught the doctrines…” his voice trailed off.**

**“I am willing to do that as well,” Minta said.“I am willing to do anything to stay with Diego,” she added vehemently as she gazed at her husband.Diego squeezed her hand slightly.She turned back to Alejandro, a slight frown taking the place of the smile.“It will not take too long, will it, Don Alejandro?I…I want to…I miss…Diego and I…”Her voice trailed off and she looked down a Diego’s hand still curled around her own.**

**Diego interrupted her discomfiture with a hearty, full-chested laugh.Minta smiled softly, while Alejandro frowned.**

**“This is no laughing matter, Diego,” he admonished.**

**“Forgive me, Father, but it is.”He continued to laugh, until tears rolled down his cheeks.Minta, not able to help herself, giggled softly.**

**Despite himself, Alejandro smiled briefly.“That will be up to Padre Felipe.”**

**“Then we will go and see him this afternoon.I miss my hus…I miss Diego,” Minta said with finality.**  
  
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[**Chapter Twenty-nine**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories29.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	30. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**Father Felipe sat on one side of the sacristy watching the worshippers walk into the church for Mass.After the early morning hours spent reading and meditating over the scriptures, he enjoyed the morning Mass as a sort of culmination to his studies and prayers.The Mass, itself, was a kind of spiritual renewal for him, as well.His vestments rustled softly as he shifted in the chair.The Indian men, women and children filed in sedately, even the babies’ cries were subdued and muted as if they knew what was going on and where they were. _Who knows_ , Father Felipe thought meditatively, _maybe they do_.A few vaqueros and a sprinkling of hacendados and their families also entered.As the worshippers walked up the aisles and found a pew, they knelt, genuflected and then eased onto the wooden benches.**

**The priest also noted the presence of Alejandro de la Vega, his son, Diego, and a young woman of very dark skin. Her interest in everything around her was obvious.Indeed, she was literally gaping at the artifacts, paintings and statuary.This told him very clearly that not only was she not from around here, but that she was not a member of the Mother Church.**

**_So the rumors are correct_ , Father Felipe thought, _that young de la Vega found himself a foreign woman while in San Diego._ As he rose to begin the Mass, Father Felipe kept wondering how the son of the wealthiest and most influential man in the community could have lost his heart to one who was most likely the only non-Catholic in the entire length of Spanish California.**

**Because the priest was bewildered by the paradox before him, the Mass was conducted mostly out of habit, without much conscious thought.Father Felipe’s gaze kept returning to the couple sitting about four rows from the front.He noticed that the young lady was attracting attention from a great many of her fellow worshippers as well.And he could see why.The rumors had flown on the wings of many ‘birds’ telling him about the strange and unusual señorita who had come on the arm of Don Diego.Indeed she was very different than his other parishioners.Somehow, though, Father Felipe did not see her differences as anything ominous or evil.Amazingly, she seemed oblivious to the stares of others, instead concentrating on what he was doing or on the church itself.Occasionally, Diego leaned over and gave the girl whispered instructions and she watched carefully for cues as to what she should do next.**

**Various other things became apparent to him as the Mass progressed.First, the girl was deeply in love with Diego, and he with her.Second, she was genuinely interested in learning about the Holy Mother Church.Whether due to her interest in Diego or on her own account, he couldn’t tell. _And,_ he told himself, _it really doesn’t matter.God loves all who come into His kingdom, no matter what their original reason._ She didn’t know Latin, but she seemed to be a very fast learner, quickly picking up some of the words of the liturgy.Once or twice, when her eyes rested on his, he saw warmth and genuine openness.**

**Father Felipe determined to meet this young lady as soon as Mass was over, but then, he thought, _That is probably the intention the de la_ Vegas _had in coming to Mass here, rather then going to the little family chapel on their_ rancho.**

**He couldn’t help but think it was about time for Diego to marry and have a family.While the young caballero had been genuinely interested and totally involved in the quest to help Don Ignacio Torres two years earlier, Father Felipe firmly believed that Diego had entirely too much time on his hands. _A family would give this young man more to think about than books and guitars,_ the priest thought.**

**Father Felipe had almost finished saying the Mass before realizing just how much of the service he had accomplished without thinking about it.Chagrined, he silently apologized to God for his inattentiveness.He gave the benediction and then briefly talked to the worshippers as they began leaving the church.When most had gone, the two young lovers were still sitting on their seats, holding hands.Don Alejandro was lighting a candle, but approached him when he finished.**

**“Padre Felipe?” the older man asked.**

**“Yes, Alejandro, my son?Are you here to discuss the arrangement of marriage between your son and the young lady?” he asked.**

**Alejandro blinked and looked at the priest in surprise before nodding.**

**“Even if I had not been told, it was extremely apparent that your son and the _señorita_ are very much in love with one another.”**

**“But she is not a member of the Church, Padre,” Alejandro said, quite obviously discomfited by the admission.**

**“That, too, was obvious, but her interest in learning also seems genuine.She will need the catechism and then the baptism, and then I will happily perform the marriage vows for them.”**

**“Graciás, Padre.She is most eager to learn and be baptized,” Alejandro stated.**

**“Her love is indeed strong, then,” Father Felipe said with a chuckle.Alejandro smiled at the priest’s small joke.**

**“Bring Diego and his fiancé to the sacristy.There we can talk.”**

**Alejandro nodded, and turning, motioned to the couple.Soon the small group was seated around a table.After Alejandro had introduced Minta, a young initiate served them wine and then left.Father Felipe began chatting amiably with the young couple, and then he began asking Minta questions.He came to several conclusions during their visit.While he felt that there was no evil intent in this young lady, he also felt there were things being left out of her story.He got the same feeling from Diego.They were extremely vague about how they met and she was extremely evasive about her homeland.Over the years of his shepherding, Father Felipe had learned many things.One of those was the fact that married couples, even newlyweds very much in love, behaved toward each other in ways that were different than couples that were courting, or even betrothed or engaged.He was rather disturbed by the fact that these two acted like more like the former than the latter.He could not put a finger on his uncertainties, they acted perfectly natural, and they didn’t get too demonstrative with one another.There was nothing that they said that pointed to that fact, either, but he felt it nonetheless.**

**_Surely Diego knows better than to proceed in this relationship without the wedding vows,_ he told himself. _Of course he does!_ The priest decided not to pursue his deductions for the present, choosing to see what would happen during Minta’s lessons.It was probably the imaginings of an overzealous spiritual leader.Father Felipe felt a genuine liking for the lovely dark-skinned foreign girl.There was an innocence that was refreshing, a warmth that was sincere and desire that was unfeigned.A strange feeling came over him as he finished speaking with them.A strong feeling, as though something was sitting on his shoulder and whispering in his ear.“My children,” he said, with conviction.“Calm your fears over the future.All will be well.”As the trio drove away in their carriage, the priest again felt a sense of happiness for the couple, but with a curious sense of foreboding mingled in with it.**

**“What did you think of your first Mass?” Diego asked as they drove away from the mission.He sat next to Minta, holding her hand, in the brotherly sort of way that his father expected of them during this time.He wondered just why, after all his years of training and religious upbringing he felt that his marriage on the spaceship was so real.He knew the Church’s teachings about marriage, but he couldn’t help the fact that he truly felt married to this woman by his side and that all he was doing now was a formal charade to make it ‘right’ in the eyes of those here in California.**

**“Padre Felipe seems very kind and gentle, Diego.I like him very much.I think I will enjoy learning from him.I enjoyed the Mass as well.I could feel something, I am not sure what.Maybe it was the feelings that the other people seemed to have for each other, and for their religion.I wish I understood more,” she said, longingly.**

**“You will, in time, my dear,” Alejandro interjected, pleased at her willingness to adapt.**

**“Yes, but what does…” Minta began asking questions.All the way home the two men answered to the best of their ability while Bernardo sat up front in the driver’s seat trying in vain to keep the grin from his face.**

**======================**

**Within a few days Minta had settled into her new life as though born to it.She asked innumerable questions of everyone in the hacienda about all aspects of life from every strata of society.She watched everything that went on around her with the curiosity of a child.She soaked in the catechism like a sponge, only asking questions about specific points of the ceremonies and rituals, never questioning the doctrines themselves.While he himself had never considered questioning the tenets of his religion, Diego wondered at the adaptability of one from another planet.He mentioned that to her.**

**“Diego, mi amor, the whole Rantiri society is built around selflessness and service.Remember the points of Rantiri law that I recited to you?”**

**Diego nodded.Each member of her society existed to benefit the whole.Individuals were never to bring intentional hurt or harm to another member.He remembered the discussion following her recitation of that last point, especially in light of his kidnapping.**

**“What could be more beautiful to a Rantiri than the account of one who gave his life for everyone else in the world?And who existed only to teach and serve all of his fellow human beings?” she asked.Diego had to agree.**

**Her riding improved equally as fast and a good portion of their time together was spent on horseback.Bernardo became a very willing chaperone, following discreetly behind, to keep up the pretense of an engagement.He was acutely aware, though, of their feelings toward each other, those that were distinctly not that of a courting couple and he was equally aware that both felt very much married, despite the tenets of the Holy Mother Church.**

**A week and a half after their ‘arrival’ in Los Angeles, the trio rode into the pueblo.Minta needed a larger wardrobe than one riding outfit and two casual, everyday dresses.Diego walked around the stalls, and into the shops with her as she felt the material of the more fancy dresses.When she reluctantly turned away from a bolt of exquisitely beautiful blue brocade and silk material, Diego gazed at it thoughtfully.Motioning to the shopkeeper, he asked, “How much material do you think it would take to make an evening gown for my fiancé?”**

**The shopkeeper held up the fingers of one hand.“There will need to be extra for the layers of the skirt and sleeves, Don Diego,” he said.Diego soon had a large package under his arm.Minta had, in the meantime, slipped out of the shop and was looking at shawls in a nearby stall.An older peon woman sitting next to the stall, her pottery sitting invitingly on a colorful blanket, stared at Minta’s back, then spit into the dust and making signs to ward off evil.Diego gazed at his fiancé quickly, but seeing her moving to the opposite side of the stall, apparently oblivious to the actions of the pottery maker, he approached the old woman. _“_ Señora,” he said quietly.“If you feel that there is anything wrong with my fiancé, keep your feelings to yourself.I will not tolerate one such as the Señorita Minta being treated in such a manner.Especially since there is less guile in her heart than there is in yours.”Diego struggled to curb his irritation, not wanting Minta to have the slightest indication that there was anything amiss.**

**The old woman gazed sharply at him before lowering her eyes.“Sí, patrón,” she said demurely.**

**Looking back toward the stall, Diego noticed another woman staring fearfully, but saw that Minta was not paying attention to her, entranced with the beauty of a delicately woven cream-colored shawl.He tried smiling at the girl in reassurance and was pleased to see her relax a bit.Diego paid for Minta’s choice and then guided her to a tiny house off the plaza, where a widowed mother made her living sewing for the wealthy hacendados.**

**“Draviña, I wish for you to make an evening gown for my fiancé.Would you be able to do that, say, within a week?” he asked.Minta turned to him in surprise.Draviña looked Minta over from head to toe, nodded and then came over to see the material he had bought.As Minta gasped in surprise at the contents of his package, the seamstress gathered her measuring tapes and bid Minta to stand in the little bit of light that came through the small window.**

**“I believe I can, Don Diego, but you must leave your fiancé here with me for a while.Go sit with your friends in the tavern.When I am finished, I will send the señorita to you, then I will begin.You are in luck.I have no other pressing jobs right now,” she said with a chuckle.**

**“I will not be far away, querida,” he said, kissing her gloved hand gently.She nodded and watched him go.**

**“Forgive me for my boldness, señorita, but you are not exactly what the people in the pueblo expected when Don Diego finally found himself a wife,” Draviña said as she squatted on the ground to measure the length of the skirt.**

**Minta found this woman’s candid comment to be refreshing in this society where those considered of a lower class were considerably more careful with their words, usually electing to say only what was necessary and almost never giving their opinions. “And Diego is not exactly what my people would consider for an ideal husband,” she answered with a slight chuckle.Dravina laughed with her.**

**A rag-clad brown skinned boy peered into the doorway, his eyes wide with curiosity.He appeared to be very young, perhaps the same age as the four-year-old son of one of the de la Vega vaqueros.He stared for a moment, his thumb in his mouth, sucking on it. He pulled it out with a slight popping noise and asked, “Mamá, is this the bruha that Angelina told us about?”**

**Draviña stiffened, as did Minta.“Mio chico, this is Don Diego’s fiancé.She is no bruha. Angelina is a necia chismosa and you must ignore gossiping fools such as her.” The seamstress continued to measure as though the subject had been the state of the weather.The little boy continued to stare, his thumb now firmly ensconced in his mouth.Minta felt extremely self-conscious and wished she could leave and find Diego.She had hoped that the gossip, fearful looks, the gestures, spitting and the hateful stares would end, but while they had subsided somewhat, they had not totally gone away.She sighed.Diego was right; some things take more time than others.**

**“Do not mind the talk of my little Manuel.He hears the women chattering like magpies in the plaza and then brings it to me.It is just talk; it blows in the wind and is gone, señorita.”**

**“Graciás, señora,” Minta answered, reassured by the words and tone of the seamstress.**

**===================**

**Diego did not go directly to the tavern.He first stopped in the shop of the jewelry maker.The man looked up as the young caballero stepped out of the glare of the sun.“Ah, what can I do for you, Don Diego?” he asked, a knowing look on his face.**

**“I would like to have two rings made, Señor Montego.One for my fiancé and one for myself,” Diego answered.**

**“Gold or silver?”**

**“Gold.I want the señorita’s to have a single jewel, not a large one, but a diamond if you have such.I would like mine without a jewel.I want both engraved on the inside with the word, ‘Eternidad. _’_**

**“Sí, Don Diego.Leave me the sizes and I can probably have them done in about two weeks,” Montego said.Diego left a string that he had surreptitiously used to get a ring size from Minta’s finger, along with a small pouch of silver coins.He hoped that he had measured correctly; it had been hard to get the string around her finger during her siesta the day before.**

**In the tavern he noted Sgt. Garcia sitting with Corporal Reyes at a table near the door.When they had noticed him, the rotund sergeant grinned broadly and motioned to him.As he usually did, Diego sauntered over and sat down.“Ah, sergeant, how are you doing today?” he asked, noting the empty wine bottle on the table.He caught the eye of the bar maid, Maria, and motioned for another bottle of wine.She smiled and turned away.It was a game that was played out often and all the participants understood the scene well.**

**“Very well, Don Diego.And how is the education of the lovely señorita coming?”**

**“That is going very well, also,” Diego responded.“I believe that the baptism will be soon.”**

**“And then the marriage.Ah, I can just imagine the magnificent _fiesta_ that your father will host.”**

**Diego laughed.“Yes, I can just imagine it too.”**

**“I am still curious as to where you found such an unusual señorita, Don Diego,” Garcia said, stating directly the same thing that many other people had said to themselves or in whispers to their friends.**

**“I met her in my travels and we fell in love.It is as simple as that,” Diego responded casually, although he felt somewhat uneasy about this line of questioning.**

**“But you know, it is a strange coincidence…” Garcia began and then trailed off.**

**“What, sergeant?” Diego responded, wishing his friend would get off of this track, but knowing if he didn’t respond, the sergeant would state his theory anyway.**

**“I was thinking…and it is just a coincidence, after all, but the thought occurred to me, that this girl matches the descriptions that some of El Diablo’s men gave of the demons who captured Zorro.”**

**Diego almost choked on his wine.He stared at the sergeant, doing his best to resist the temptation to look around the room and see if anyone had heard Garcia’s offhanded remark. _That is all we need now,_ he thought in chagrin.Hoping that his shock hadn’t registered, he tried to compose himself quickly, all the while thinking of the most appropriate response.**  
  
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[**Chapter Thirty**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories30.htm)  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	31. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Thirty**

**Diego shoved the feelings of panic and fear into the deep recesses of his mind.Now was not the time to lose control.This had to be resolved calmly and quickly. “Sergeant, do you realize just how ridiculous that sounds?And do you realize how much a statement like that would hurt Minta.” He made his voice rise a bit in righteous indignation, but not so much that it would attract the attention of those around them.“You are talking about the woman that I love and that I intend on marrying, a very kind, gentle and sweet woman.How can you equate her with demons?” he asked, rising to leave.**

**“I am sorry, Don Diego, I did not mean to imply…”**

**“No, not another word!” Diego hissed, knowing that in the sergeant’s sudden agitation, Garcia’s voice would rise as well, even louder than his own.As though gaining some small measure of control, he said a bit more quietly, “I wish that you would not say another word concerning this.I want my wedding to be a beautiful one, not one with the atmosphere of an inquisition.Adios, sergeant.”He turned and stalked out, surreptitiously glancing about him.He did not see anyone who appeared to be trying to follow the recent conversation, but that didn’t mean that someone hadn’t heard it.There were several individuals sitting near enough.**

**“Adios, Don Diego,” Garcia said, his voice small and contrite.Corporal Reyes just poured himself more wine, not wishing to get involved in this mess that his commanding officer had gotten himself into.**

**Diego mentally cursed this ill wind that blew his way.Sergeant Garcia was a man of big heart, but sometimes he was possessed of an even bigger mouth, which occasionally didn’t seem attached to his brain.As he saw Minta crossing the plaza, Diego forced himself to calm down.It would do no good to let her know about this latest incident.The obvious feelings of some of the townspeople still disturbed her, although she did her best to hide it.**

**=======================**

**Minta watched Juanita making the tortillas with the sureness of much practice.“How do you get them so thin?I would imagine they would get a hole in them when you pick them up but yours never do,” she said, her eyes following the deft hands intently.The stone roller made the maize pastry thinner and thinner until the Rantiri thought it would be possible to see through it.Juanita picked it up with ease and laid it on a hot iron slab where it sat cooking with only the tiniest bit of curl on the edges.**

**“Practice, señorita,” the cook told her, as she put another ball of the ground corn mixture on the rolling slab.**

**“May I try it, Juanita?” Minta asked.**

**Juanita looked up at her in surprise, and then shrugged, moving away from the stone slab.Minta knelt before the slab and took the stone roller in her hands.The gloves on her hands were loose, so she quickly took them off and began rolling, just as she had seen Juanita do it.The tortilla was not as smoothly rounded as the cook’s efforts and one edge was thicker than the other, but Minta was pleased with her efforts.**

**Juanita’s voice intruded on her small triumph. _“_ S _eñorita_ , if Don Alejandro found out that I let you kneel in the dust and do my work, he would not be happy.”**

**Minta looked over her shoulder and smiled.“I would tell him that I forced you,” she replied.Juanita returned her smile.Quickly, Minta slipped her gloves back on; grateful in her eagerness that the cook was standing behind her and her hands had been hidden from Juanita’s view.Getting up and dusting herself off, she added, “They do not have such things as tortillas where I come from.I thank you for letting me try to make one.”**

**“You are entirely welcome, señorita,” Juanita said, feeling the other woman’s happiness with life, as well as a genuine curiosity for everything around her.Despite her physical differences, the cook felt that this woman was good medicine for this hacienda.**

**As the señorita left the kitchen, Juanita glanced up and saw Maria Louisa standing in the dark doorway to the storage shed.“Come, my daughter, finish rolling the tortillas for me, while I cook these.”The girl stood in the doorway not moving.“I told you to do something!” Juanita snapped, now picking up on the surly mood of her daughter.**

**“Her hand has too many fingers,” Maria Louisa said.**

**Juanita jerked up, startled by the statement.“You are loca!” she snapped.**

**“I saw them.Both hands.There were five fingers with her thumb.It proves she is a witch!”**

**“It proves nothing,” Juanita answered quickly, but feeling the tendrils of doubt creep into her heart.It was totally unreasonable…the idea that the sweet and gentle señorita could be a bruha.“It could be something that afflicted her in the womb.”**

**“It is a mark of the devil,” Maria Louisa insisted.**

**“That is not a matter for you to decide.It is for the priest to determine.You will not go around talking about such things.She is Don Diego’s fiancé.”**

**“She has bewitched him and will put a curse on all of us.”Maria Louisa stood, her arms folded, her mouth set.**

**“And I will put bruises all over your body if you do not get down here and make more tortillas right now,” Juanita retorted.Maria Louisa did as she was told, but her eyes glittered in anticipation.**

**===========================**

**Diego watched the sparkles of sunlight flashing in diamond-like splendor on the surface of the little lake.It had now been twenty days since they had returned, and life seemed to have slipped into splendid normalcy that was intensely comforting to him.Even those who still distrusted and feared Minta seemed remote and unimportant right now.**

**In front of him lay a basket, its contents spread on a blanket nearby, only half eaten. _The real meal,_ thought Diego in amusement, _is lying right here next to me._ Reaching over, he played with Minta’s soft, white gold hair, letting his fingers luxuriate in its silkiness.He loved every nuance of her uniqueness.**

**“Do you hear that bird calling?” she asked.**

**Diego listened, hearing a meadowlark in the distance.He imitated it.“That one?”**

**“Yes,” she said, also imitating it.“It is a very pretty call.It sounds lonely, while at the same time, triumphant.”**

**“Why triumphant?” he asked.Even birdcalls sounded musical to him, coming from her lips.**

**“Because in all this wide, wild world, it is surviving and is letting the world know that it has triumphed, at least for this one day.”**

**“I never thought of it that way.I always thought of it as a call for a mate,” Diego said, wryly.**

**“Even in that there is triumph,” she responded, laughing softly.**

**“Mmm,” was all Diego said.They lay half reclined against a large tree trunk, enjoying each other’s proximity, saying nothing for several minutes.**

**“How are you feeling, querida?” he finally asked.He had been somewhat concerned when she had complained of a bit of stomach upset earlier in the day.**

**“Fine, mi amor.It was only too many chilies in last night’s soup,” she answered.**

**Mollified, he bent down and kissed her tenderly, quickly.Bernardo, understanding, in his inimitable way, allowed the couple some leeway, but Diego had no intention of taking too much advantage of his mozo’s kindly disposition by going too far in his affection, at least most of the time.**

**“I am looking forward to my baptism soon.It will be soon, yes?” Minta murmured.**

**“I believe so.It is up to Padre Felipe.”**

**Minta stared at the water.“Do you know how to swim?” she asked suddenly.**

**“What a question!” he exclaimed, laughing.**

**“Well, do you?”**

**“I know how not to drown,” he answered.She laughed.**

**“I am a very good swimmer.Let me teach you.”Minta stood up and tugged at his arm.**

**Diego was carried away to his childhood, when his friends would all coax the others to swim in the ponds and creeks near the haciendas, tugging and pulling and sometimes forcefully throwing each other in. Unfortunately, they were not children.They were adults who were supposed to observe certain conventions and customs.He said as much.**

**“I did not say to swim naked, Diego.Just swim,” she responded.**

**Looking around, and seeing no one else anywhere nearby, he turned to Bernardo, who was sitting under a nearby tree.Diego smiled and said, “My dear chaperone.Do you approve?”**

**With a look of consternation, Bernardo shook his head and signed.‘Together?’**

**“Of course together, Bernardo.How can Minta show me how to swim if we are not in the water together?But if it will make you feel any better, I will keep my shirt on,” Diego said with a laugh.**

**The _mozo_ made more signs.Diego’s eyes widened at Bernardo’s joke and then he laughed.“There is no need to get sarcastic.I will stay properly clothed.”**

**“Did he say what I thought he said?” Minta asked.**

**“Yes, he did.It was not the shirt that worried him, it was the pants,” Diego repeated.Minta looked at Diego and then they both laughed.Bernardo stood with his arms crossed over his chest, enjoying his joke.**

**“I will stay properly attired, as well, Bernardo,” Minta reassured the servant, still smiling.Bernardo didn’t look reassured.He just wrung his hands and looked all around him.**

**“If you are so concerned, find a look-out point and you can warn us if someone comes along,” Diego commented, pulling off his chaqueta, banda, and boots.In deference to their chaperone, he left his shirt and calzoneros on.Minta appeared from behind some bushes, already in the little lake, her hair forming a bright crown around her shoulders where it trailed in the water.Her blouse clung to her body, her riding skirt swirled around her legs, but her willowy form was still easily made out.**

**Diego entered the water, felt his undergarments clinging to his body and gasped as the chill of the water hit him.Then he paddled out to her.He kissed her soundly, but backed off when he heard a stick banging against a rock.Laughing, he waved to Bernardo and then let Minta show him her skills in the water.At first he had trouble concentrating on her swimming strokes, instead preferring to pay attention to her physical attributes, but as he watched the ease with which she moved in the water, Diego became more and more interested in how she was accomplishing it.She was patient, showing him by example how to move his arms and legs in various rhythms that would give him more speed in the water.He was amazed at the ease he could swim from one side of the pond to the other.**

**After a while, she called a halt.“It has been some time since I went swimming and this has tired me out.”**

**While she hid in the brush and wrung out her skirt and blouse, he did the same with his clothing.**

**Soon they were lying near each other on the warm grass, letting the sun dry them off before returning to the _hacienda_. Diego felt the dampness of his shirt and undergarments, but he didn’t care.Next to him, Minta sighed.The recurring litany repeated itself… _Soon…soon.We will be married soon.We can be more open soon.We can live normally soon.Soon…soon_.He turned on his side and gazed at Minta.Her violet eyes met his hazel eyes and spoke volumes to him, adding rooms to the library of their love and devotion for each other.Nothing was said; nothing needed to be.**

**Reaching over, Diego lightly touched her cheek, running his finger down the contour of her face.“Are you happy?” he finally asked.“Does my world please you?Do you miss commuters, lights that work like magic and beds that move themselves?”**

**“Yes, even though some people spit at my feet and make signs to ward off evil, I still love your land.It is my land now, with you at my side.”She paused, thinking about his other question.**

**Dismayed, Diego murmured, “I did not think you had noticed that.”**

**“Yes, the woman with the pottery spit on the ground as I passed,” she answered.**

**“I am sorry, querida that you have had to see such things.It is the reaction of the ignorant,” he said softly, running one finger down her cheek.**

**Not wanting to dwell on the unpleasant at such a peaceful time, Minta returned to his previous question.“Sometimes I miss all of those things that you mentioned.Sometimes, when I burn my fingers trying to light a candle in the pitch-dark night, I wish I could just flip a switch.I most especially miss indoor bathrooms, but those are minor compared to the joy and happiness that I have with you.”**

**“I wish I could give you those things to make it easier for you…”**

**“No, Diego, I do not need those things, not when I have what is important.And you can always kiss my fingers when I burn them.”**

**“Let me do that now,” he said, rolling over and kissing the tips of each finger, glad that she had two extra for him to kiss.Rolling over on his back, he let the feeling of contentment wash over him.**  
  
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[**Chapter Thirty-one**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories31.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
[**Zorro Contents**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/zorrocontents.htm)  
[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	32. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Thirty-One**

**“You are sure she is one of the demons?” one speaker asked.Others standing nearby nodded their heads, wanting confirmation of the same thing.**

**“I could feel it the moment she rode into the plaza.And I saw her hands. Long and slender, they were, and five fingers with her thumbs.They were just like what Juliano described when Zorro was captured, like spider’s legs,” Maria Louisa replied.Eyes widened with fear and loathing at her pronouncement, many crossed themselves.**

**The group, which met in a large tanning shed some way from the de la Vega hacienda consisted of servants, a few from the de la Vega rancho, others from nearby haciendas, along with vaqueros, also from various local ranchos.The stench of fear vied with the old, pungent smell of blood and death.The attendees kept looking over their shoulders, expecting something, or someone evil to suddenly appear.**

**“Yes, mi hermana said she heard Sergeant Garcia tell Don Diego that his fiancé looked just like the demons that took El Zorro.Don Diego was angry, telling the sergeant not to speak of it again,” a servant named Manuel stated.**

**“How could Don Diego be so stupid?” a vaquero named Fernando asked.**

**“He is bewitched.Did you not see him at the lake with that witch several days ago?” another vaquero _,_ one named Luis, asked.“She enticed him in the water.You know how much power Satan has in the water.She took him there and they played in the water together.”**

**“And there was no chaperone?Truly the whole de la Vega house is bewitched!” a servant from the Torres household said.She genuflected quickly and was imitated by most of the others.**

**“The deaf-mute was there, but I made sure he did not see us.We were up on a hill behind some brush, but we could still see the demon and Don Diego,” Luis replied.**

**“What about the priest?Padre Felipe?Would he help us and get rid of the demon?Are more demons coming?”**

**“My mother told me it was not up to us to judge why the demonia had extra fingers, it was up to the priest.”Maria Louisa paused.“So this morning I went and told Padre Felipe.”She paused again, enjoying her moment basking in the camaraderie and admiration of all of these people.Her eyes glittered with excitement.“And if Padre Felipe takes care of this one, then the others will be discouraged and leave us alone.”**

**“What if she tells lies and Padre Felipe believes her?” Fernando asked.His eyes continued to scan the room nervously, flitting here and there like bats, wide with terror of those things that could drag one’s soul down to Hell.His fingers kept moving round and round the rim of his straw hat he held in his hands, as though it was a set of rosary beads.**

**“A priest being deceived?It is unlikely, but if it happens then we will take care of the witch ourselves.My wife is big with child, and I do not want this demon to curse my first child before he is born,” Luis stated vehemently, spitting on the ground for emphasis.Others murmured and made signs to ward off evil. “We will see what happens with the priest.Surely he will see what we do.Someone can wait near the mission,” he added.“I heard that she is to be baptized Friday.”**

**“I cannot understand why Crescencia and the others feel she is good and kind.It is obvious that she hides demon lusts in her heart,” Maria Louisa said vehemently.The rest nodded, including those who had not been totally sure before.**

**=======================**

**Father Felipe paced to and fro inside the confines of his private quarters.He thought of the conversation with the de la Vega servant this morning after the mass, just the day after he had told Minta that she had learned all of the catechism correctly and that she was ready for baptism. _A demon?Was this possible?Could I have been so blind to not see a minion of Satan?Why would God not let me know_? he agonized in his mind.He had felt that the couple had been hiding something from him, but he had not felt that there was any evil in either the girl or in Diego.He stopped by his straw mattress bed and knelt yet again.He could not have told anyone just how many times he had already prayed since Maria Louisa’s announcement to him.He prayed again, asking for guidance, to understand the foreign girl’s heart, to know if she was hiding anything evil.**

**He kept coming back to what he had felt for over three weeks now…that this girl was genuinely good; that she had an almost innocent outlook on almost everything around her and that she loved Diego de la Vega with a deep and abiding love.She was devoted to him.However, now he had to know what it was that the couple was keeping from him.There could be no secrets.God knew their hearts, but as one of God’s servants, he was entitled to know their hearts as well, especially as he would be performing the ordinances that would further entwine them into the one faith.**

**The vespers that evening was well attended, he noted.He wondered if the larger influx of servants and vaqueros was due to the little bit of information that the cook’s daughter had brought him.Were they there to make sure he had not forgotten? _As though I could_ , Father Felipe thought wryly.After he had finished the benediction, he motioned to Diego and Minta to come into the vestry with him.Alejandro followed.Their faces told him that they fully expected an immediate baptism.He hoped there would be a baptism, but doubted it would be immediate.**

**He sat across from the couple and looked through his steepled fingers, wondering how to approach this subject.Diego de la Vega had been the voice of intellectual reason since his return from Spain.He had been the first on the scene after Ignaccio Torres had asked for sanctuary and Diego had also been instrumental in keeping the beleaguered man out of Monastario’s hands.Zorro had been a major actor in the whole affair, but Diego had always been there.He had coaxed Torres to have patience, he had helped keep the comandante at bay, and he had even helped pick the oranges when his children, the Indians, had been rounded up for work details.Diego had related the story, he had been told later, that had so badly frightened the soldiers that all it took was a mysterious appearance by Zorro to rout them.**

**How Diego had figured out all these things, he was not quite sure.That he was in league with the outlaw, he had no doubt, and that he had a noble heart, was obvious.It had been Diego who had informed him of the plight of the Torres women when they had been jailed.He had plied the good sergeant for information in a way that astonished the priest.The _caballero_ would have made a good priest in that respect…or a good actor.Sometimes that is the impression he came away with when talking with Diego, that every word was calculated.Father Felipe had assumed that was a result of the three years of university.**

**So what was it about Minta that had made him so tight-lipped and secretive?There had been no confession since he had returned from San Diego four weeks ago, not that young de la Vega made frequent visits to the confessional before, but…**

**“PadreFelipe, is there something bothering you?” Diego asked, concern easy to read in his eyes.**

**Instead of looking at the younger de la Vega, he turned to Minta. “My dear, would you please take off your gloves?”She looked stricken and turned to look at Diego.He simply nodded, his face showing resignation.**

**Slowly, her own face showing disappointment and fear, she pulled off the riding gloves.The last finger of each glove was slower to come off, as two of her fingers had been squeezed inside, but when she had pulled them off, the priest saw five long graceful fingers and one thumb on each finger.**

**“Padre…” Alejandro began.**

**“No, my son.Let me handle this.”He turned to Minta and gazed into her large violet eyes.The girl’s emotions were close to the surface.Reaching out, he took her hands in his and stared at them closely.Except for the presence of the extra finger, they could be the hands of anyone.He looked up into her eyes again. _Madre de Dios, give me discernment._**

**They gazed at one another for several minutes.She had the look of a frightened doe, and like a frightened doe there was no evil in her heart, only fear and trepidation.“My child, do you understand what I have taught you?”**

**“Yes, Padre, I do…at least most of it,” she said, her voice trembling slightly.**

**“Are you willing to give your heart to this faith if I choose to baptize you?”**

**She nodded before answering.Her voice was almost a whisper that grew stronger as she spoke.“Yes, Padre.I came here because I love Diego.I left everything behind because I could not bear to be away from him.I knew that I would have to make changes, and that I would have to learn new things. I have enjoyed the catechism.What you believe is so very close to what I believe.It is all one belief now.”**

**Father Felipe laid one hand on her head and continued to look into her eyes.“My child, despite what I have been told, God has shown me your heart and it is one of the purest hearts I have encountered in my years as a priest.I will baptize you…tonight, if you wish.”**

**“Oh, yes, Padre, yes.”A smile lit her countenance.“Then can Diego and I get married?”**

**Laughing, Father Felipe nodded.“But in good time, my child.Certainly not tonight!”**

**Next he turned his attention to Diego, whose face showed great relief.“Diego, may I talk with you privately?"**

**“Sí, Padre,” Diego said, his face changing to show bewilderment.They went into the priest’s bedroom, where Father Felipe motioned for the young man to sit on his bed as he shut the door and pulled up a stool.**

**“Diego, you came back from San Diego with a wonderful, sweet and good natured young lady.I see no guile in her.I have detected no evil intents in her interest in you,” Father Felipe said.**

**“Then what is the problem, Padre?”**

**“It is you that I am concerned about.There are things that a priest is able to figure out, even if the person with whom he is dealing has no wish for those things to be brought to light,” Father Felipe said.He watched Diego carefully, and though the young man pretty much kept a passive countenance, there were clues that told him that he was on the right track.With a sigh, the priest decided that there was no reason not to just be blunt.**

**“You have told me you want to be married as soon as possible.Just what is your relationship with Minta?”**

**Again, the young man’s face registered resignation.“We are married.”It was a statement of fact, simple and direct, but it was not what the priest had been expecting to hear.Father Felipe almost fell off the stool.**

**“My son, if you are married…but Minta is not baptized.”Sudden enlightenment came into his mind.“You were married by her customs?”**

**“Sí, Padre, we were.”Diego sighed.**

**“But there are no other churches in California.And even if there were, you are aware that the Church does not sanction such a marriage.”He looked curiously at the young man and was shocked to see the carefully cultivated passivity turn to anxiety and confusion.It amazed him that this young man, who so easily flustered Monastario with his words, who could so easily bend Sergeant Garcia to his will, who was so eloquent, enlightened and quick witted could look so very vulnerable.He almost appeared lost.**

**“Diego, tell me about your meeting with Minta.I know that your love for her is genuine as is hers for you.We will treat this as though it was in the confessional, my son.”**

**Besides bewilderment, there was now anguish and even fear.“Father, I am only telling you this because I am afraid for Minta.She does not deserve the treatment that she has received since she came here.Oh, yes, there are those who have been more than kind, but most treat her with suspicion or worse.I have tried to hide as much as I can from her, keep her near me and away from them.I reassure her that it will ease up and finally go away, but I am afraid that it will go further than spitting, signs and evil looks.I need an ally so that we can stop this hatred and fear.”**

**“Tell me, Diego.Tell me the whole story.”**

**“Padre, I never went to San Diego.I was abducted about the same time as Zorro was and by the same people.He escaped before they left.I did not and was taken away to the kidnappers' home.I finally returned a little over four weeks ago,” Diego began.**

**“But my son, Zorro was abducted almost six months ago.You have been here in that time,” Father Felipe said, puzzled.**

**“That was someone who looked exactly like me.I do not know how my kidnappers did it, but they did,” Diego said quickly.Diego then went into the story, a story that was so astonishing as to be almost unbelievable.Somehow the priest still felt that there were things left out, but there was so much to assimilate that he didn’t mind that oversight for now.**

**He listened in rapt attention, occasionally uttering a murmured exclamation.Finally he noticed that the caballero sounded a bit hoarse.Looking at the watch in his pocket, he was astonished that more than an hour had passed.**

**Father Felipe blinked and sighed.“My son, you are thirsty.I apologize for not giving you anything to drink before.”He poured wine in a small mug and handed it to Diego, who took it gratefully.“So you say you were not in Hell.However, it certainly sounds to me like you have been in Hell, my son.”**

**Diego’s look of relief was very evident.“But I found Minta.I could not have found someone like that in Hell, Padre,” Diego pointed out.**

**Father Felipe nodded and poured some wine for himself.He sat sipping it as he pondered what Diego had said.That there were other places, more of God’s creations out in the heavens, peopled by intelligent beings, astonished him, but seemed logical in a strange sort of way.Diego was abducted the same time as Zorro, but Zorro managed to get away.How could the one escape without the other, and why did Zorro not say something about Diego being abducted.Perhaps it was because the outlaw saw futility in trying to save someone who was taken from off this world.But why did he not try to do something about the twin?His thoughts were like squirrels in the trees vying with the magpies that screamed on the upper branches.Why did they want Diego and Zorro?How could a race of beings that so revered service and the well being of others do such a thing to Diego?He thought about Diego, the Rantiri, Minta, and Zorro for several minutes.**

**“Diego, may I ask you some questions to clarify things I do not understand?” Father Felipe asked.Diego nodded.“Why did they need you?What was their purpose in abducting you and Zorro?”**

**Diego sighed.“Please believe me when I say that it was not for evil intent.I really do not understand it all myself, so how can I tell you and make it sound logical?Please trust me in this, Padre.”**

**How could he not trust this man who had gone through so much.He had come home from Spain changed and been censured by his father.He had been abducted and fallen in love with his teacher, an otherworldly woman, who could be in great danger of physical harm because of her differences.Father Felipe sighed and pondered.“I do trust you, my son,” he said and pondered some more.The past marched relentlessly alongside of these newest revelations.He kept coming back to the idea that Zorro knew that Diego had been abducted, but didn’t do anything about his substitute.Why?Then it dawned on him.The reason for all of his questions about Diego’s behavior…everything made perfect sense. Diego was Zorro!Only one person had been abducted.He tried to keep his face as passive as Diego had so often done in the past.Yes, he trusted this man and would go into Hell itself to protect him and the woman he loved.Whatever it was Diego chose not to tell him, he would accept for now.Yes, it was imperative that he baptize this woman tonight.That would go a long way in stopping the wagging tongues of fear and hate.**

**Again he experienced that conviction that all would be well and he conveyed his feelings to the young man before him.**

**The happy trio followed Father Felipe back through the chapel, past the fourteen Stations of the Cross, to the small room near the entrance where the baptisms were preformed. One woman who had been praying in the back of the church left before the ordinance was performed, slipping out unobtrusively and almost unnoticed.The copper baptismal font constructed by early neophytes gleamed with the promise of new hope for the Rantiri woman.She genuflected, and then followed Father Felipe’s instructions as he preformed the ceremony.When the priest had finished, Minta threw herself into Diego’s arms and kissed him soundly.Diego grinned, happy for her, happy for their future.**  
  
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[**Chapter Thirty-two**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories32.htm)  
---  
[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	33. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**  
**

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

**“Father, tomorrow you must begin the preparations for the wedding,” Diego declared with a grin as he helped Minta into the carriage that Bernardo had driven to the front of the mission.**

**“Sí, Diego, I will,” Alejandro said, sighing. _These young people,_ he thought.“But, please, do not pester me to move any faster than I am willing to go.It would be unseemly.”**

**“All I ask is that you not insist on a month or two of preparation,” Diego answered, chuckling at his father’s answer.He was still feeling a sense of euphoric release at Father Felipe’s belief of his adventures of the past six months and in the priest’s willingness to help him.**

**“Ai, my son. Four weeks!The marriage will be in four weeks.Do not ask for less!The bans must be said and the padrinos de bodas must be selected, ” Alejandro said in mock exasperation, then his face creased into a smile.**

**“I wish for less, Don Alejandro, but I will not ask for it,” Minta said, giggling, and Bernardo, sitting in the front seat, reins sitting loosely on his lap, smiled.**

**Alejandro sighed again.“I will do this much for you, Diego.It is not too late in the evening, so I will talk to Padre Felipe now about the date.You three go on.You can send Benito with my horse.I know you probably have much to discuss.”**

**“Gracias, Father,” Diego said, motioning to Bernardo to drive home.**

**As the carriage traveled in the soft darkness of the early evening, Minta laid her head on Diego’s shoulder and sighed.Diego softly stroked her cheek and then ran his fingers through her hair, moving it aside to kiss her.The soft hooting of the owls and the creaking of insects made a symphony that harmonized with the beating of their hearts.Distantly, he heard the yap of a coyote and above them the soft rustling of bats.The horse’s hooves added to the natural chorus.He felt and heard Minta’s soft breathing change to that of one who was sleeping.Her anxiety during his extended time with Father Felipe had finally caught up with her.Gently he put one arm around her shoulder, drew her closer to him and then leaned back against the seat of the carriage.A cool breeze caressed his face, bringing with it the scent of pines and sage.The motion of the carriage began to lull him into drowsiness and he moved his head so that his cheek lay against the top of Minta’s head.**

**He had not realized how much the talk of witches and demons had really affected him until his discussion with Father Felipe.He felt a great weight leave his shoulders as he watched the priest baptize his beloved.With the Church’s sanction, the doubters and overly superstitious had to see that there was no harm in this sweet and gentle lady that lay in his arms.**

**The horses continued along the dark, but well defined road, their hooves slightly muted on the rain-soft dirt.As they rounded a curved section of the road, though, the team stopped suddenly, their path blocked by brush and saplings.The sudden stop in momentum threw Diego and Minta forward, waking them instantly.The horses neighed in fear as they sensed the presence of unknown things in the shadows.**

**Bernardo tried to back up the frightened horses, but hands reached out of the darkness and grabbed inside the carriage, pulling them out.Minta’s hands grasped and tried to hold onto Diego’s arm, but more hands jerked her loose and threw her to the ground.She screamed, a high, frightened sound that was cut off by a hard slap to the face.**

**With a cry of rage, Diego shoved his own attackers out of the way and leaped toward Minta, who was fighting a man trying to tie her up.Grabbing the attacker by the shirt, Diego spun him around and punched him in the stomach.When the man doubled over, Diego caught him under the chin with his fist.The man dropped like a stone.**

**“Do not harm Don Diego, just get the witch!” a woman’s voice, high with triumph called out.Desperately he tried to spot Minta in the darkness, horrified that there were so many ready to do her harm.It was not just two or three; there was a mob! His heart pounded with fear for his wife.**

**Diego couldn’t see Bernardo, but scuffling noises near him indicated that the mute had his hands full.With a strength borne of rage and fear, Diego slammed one assailant to the ground and another into the side of the carriage.The clouds, hiding a swollen moon parted, revealing with much sharper clarity, several men jerking Minta up from the ground and dragging her toward a stand of brush. She had been tied and gagged, but was still struggling. Her eyes were full of fear and Diego leaped over a fallen attacker to reach her.One of the men turned toward him, a club in his hand.So fast did Diego move that the club was jerked out of the assailant’s hand and laid across its former owner’s head before he could even begin to swing his weapon.Minta’s second attacker met the same fate. The third brandished a knife.A swing of the club and the knife was sailing through the air and the man screaming in agony, clutching a broken and bloody hand.**

**Kneeling by Minta’s side, Diego loosened the knots binding her hands and pulled off the gag.“Minta, are you all right?” he asked, his voice tight with anxiety.His heart was still pounding; he had to get her away.“Let me get the ropes at your ankles.”**

**As he turned to finish untying her, she screamed, “Diego!Look out!”**

**Something hard and painful connected against the side of his head and Diego sank as if lifeless onto the damp ground.**

**Minta cried out again, calling her beloved’s name, afraid that she had witnessed a mortal blow.Tears streamed down her face, uncontrolled.Then she remembered the screaming woman instructing that Diego not be harmed.He couldn’t be dead!She prayed he was no more than stunned.**

**_Why do they hate me so?_ she agonized.Fear welled up in almost uncontrolled waves, making her gasp. _What are they going to do to me?_ When one of the men grabbed her arm and jerked her to her feet, she was unable to stifle a moan.**

**“Moan and scream and call on your evil master all you wish, _bruja_.It will do you no good.In the end we will send you to live with your master, the devil, and Don Diego and the rest of us will be rid of your bewitchment forever!”**

**_Do they mean to kill me?Oh, Madre de Dios, intercede for me, please.I have given myself to your faith and to Diego.Help me!!_ As they dragged her to a waiting horse, she tried to hold back, to get out of his awful grasp, but another man shoved her forward, causing her to fall to her knees, where the gravel bit painfully.The first man who had been holding her arm jerked her up again, causing her shoulder to creak at the strain.She cried out in pain.**

**“Please, why are you doing this to me?I am not a witch!” she cried out.“I am just from another country.Please, do not kill me.I haven’t done anything to any of you…”A hard slap across her face stopped her pleas and brought tears to her eyes.She tasted the metallic taint of fresh blood in her mouth and continued to feel the sting of the other’s hand on her cheek.**

**“Your lies are falling on deaf ears, demonia.We will not listen to them,” a woman told her.Minta peered closely and saw that it was Maria Louisa.In the now bright moonlight, the girl’s face looked demonic to her, with the shadows causing Maria Louisa’s smirking grimace to become even more pronounced and sharp.**

**Minta remembered Diego’s explanation of Maria Louisa’s behavior.“Why do you hate me so much, Maria Louisa.It is more than a belief in witches and demons, is it not?” Minta asked.“Do you love Diego more than I do?Are you so jealous of me that you cannot stand for him to be happy?” she continued, speaking loud enough for others to hear, hoping that they would think about what could be the other motive for the girl’s hate.**

**Maria Louisa hissed and screamed a curse.At the same time, her closed fist hit Minta on the jaw, causing the Rantiri to stumble backward.More pain and more tears.An involuntary cry escaped her.The cook’s daughter stepped up to her and spit in her face.Minta blinked, and tried to reach up to wipe her face, but her hands were held tightly to her side by the same man who had hit Diego over the head. _Diego!_ She looked over her shoulder to where her husband lay, but saw no more than a heap on the ground.He had not moved. Worry ate at her, consumed her.Despite the words of the vicious woman in front of her, Diego could be laying there dead. _Oh, Diego, what have I done by coming to your world?Have I truly killed you?_**

**“Diego…did you kill him?Please tell me he is alive, please,” she pleaded.**

**“He is alive,” Maria Louisa said, but there was a quality of doubt in her voice.She turned to one of the men.“Luis, check Don Diego.Make sure that blow was not too hard.And, Manuel, get her on the horse.Get her out of here!”**

**“To the tanning shed?”**

**“Sí.”**

**Minta began trembling as the burly vaquero dragged her to the horse and threw her over the saddle.She tried to grab the reins, and get a better seat in the saddle to effect an escape, but Manuel was too fast for her.He was almost on the horse before she had begun to move from her position.“No, demon witch, we have a great deal planned for you.So you will not be riding anywhere except with me.”His large hand pressed down on her back as she lay stretched across the front of the saddle like a sack of grain.The saddle horn dug into her ribs, causing sharp throbbing pain as the horse broke into a trot.She was forced to gasp for air as the saddle horn continued to press relentlessly into her diaphragm and ribs.Minta heard the sound of other horses and guessed that the rest of this band was following.What were they going to do?Did these people do something even more horrible to those they believed to be witches or demons?She could only assume they did, and fear and the saddle horn conspired against her.Bile rose in her throat, along with the contents of the evening’s dinner and she threw it all up.As particles of food hit his boot, Manuel grabbed her by the back of her blouse and shook her, throwing her back down in front of him.“Vile witch!Stop that!”**

**Minta felt ribs crack and she screamed in pain. Before they got to the tanning shed, she felt her consciousness drift in and out, but the pain was constant.What seemed an eternity of time later, she became aware of a cessation of the bumping, rocking, jolting motion of the horse and she was grabbed and pulled from the saddle.Her blouse caught on the saddle horn and Minta felt the buttons popping off as the material gave way. Dizziness caused her to fall to the ground, but as before, she was jerked to her feet and dragged inside a three walled adobe building that reeked with a sharp pungent odor that Minta could not recognize, but seemed, in her mind, to be that of death.Candles were the only light in the room, casting weird shadows on the ceiling and walls.**

**She was thrown against a thick tree trunk post, its knobby protrusions digging into her chest, and her gloves were ripped from her hands.Then she was tied tightly against the post, the ropes taut enough to begin cutting off the circulation almost immediately.Her feet were mostly numb after the ride, and she sagged against the ropes.Then as the tingling in her feet became sharp pain, she bit her lip.Several of her tormenters laughed at her discomfort.These people seemed to thrive on her expressions of fear, pain and anxiety.Minta decided that she would not give them any more pleasure.**

**The next thing that happened she would never forget. A girl, not Maria Louisa, pulled off Minta’s riding boots, and stockings and counted her toes.That, in itself would have been ludicrously funny, if Minta hadn’t known that it would most certainly lead to something else.She had the same number of toes as she had fingers and thumbs on her hands.From the looks in her adversaries’ eyes, as they silently counted along, Minta thought that these people were determined to send her to Hell.**

**And they did…with sticks they beat on her body, from her feet to her head.Some used the burning ends of their cigarettes to see how loudly she could scream.Her lip was raw from biting it, but the screams they were expecting remained moans and most of her moaning she kept in her throat.Minta could not quell the nausea and she threw up several more times before the only thing her stomach could do was retch without disgorging anything.The heaving caused an aching in her sides, exaggerated by the intense throbbing of her broken ribs.**

**Everything began to flow together, the hitting, the cursing and the spitting.She closed her eyes and wished she could close her ears.There was a cessation in the torture and she wondered if they had finished with her.But, no, it was too much to be hoped for.Her outer blouse was ripped off and then she began feeling the sharp, stinging, burning agony of a whip against her back.Finally the pain of the whip reached the involuntary centers of her brain and throat and she screamed, once for each tearing, searing stroke.When she had no more voice, Minta pressed her cheek against the post, closed her eyes once more and tried to retreat into the shell of her love for Diego.They could not take that from her.They might kill her, but they could not beat her feelings for Diego out of her.**

**The whipping stopped and someone grabbed her hair, jerked her face around and slapped her.She looked at them through tear-filled eyes.“Witch, are you glad you came now to work your darkness and evil?Do you wish you stayed with your master, Lucifer?Confess your alliance with the devil!Confess it!”**

**Through bruised and swollen lips, Minta whispered, and then spoke, her words loud enough for most of the unholy rabble to hear.“I came because I love Diego de la Vega.I love his goodness and his gentle heart.I came for no other reason.I left my home forever to live in your land; a land graced by one as kind as my beloved.It is you who have evil in your hearts.Why can’t you have goodness inside like Padre Felipe or Diego?Why?Why do I have to look just like you to live here?Tell me, please.”She laid her cheek against the post again and silently began sobbing, unable to stop despite the intense pain she felt in her chest. _Why did I come?I came for Diego!What did I do to deserve this?I am different.Why do these people have so much hate in their hearts when others, like Diego and Father Felipe, Crescencia, Pepito, the seamstress, and Don Alejandro are so good and gentle and just_?**

**Minta didn’t hear several of the mob slip away, quietly, guiltily.She didn’t hear the murmur of some whose consciences had been pricked by her words.She didn’t hear Maria Louisa scream at the others to ignore her. _Oh, Diego, I am so sorry_ , Minta cried out in her mind as she slipped into the welcome darkness, the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness. _So very sorry_ ….**

**========================**

**Someone was shaking his shoulder causing the throbbing in his head to increase until Diego felt as though his skull would split.“Go away…”More shaking.He forced his eyes open and saw Bernardo in the moonlit night.The world seemed to be tilting, moving up and down and sideways.Grabbing onto the mute’s arm, he tried to concentrate on what Bernardo was signing.He tried to remember. _Throb, throb, throb_.It was so hard to think.He and Minta were going home from Mass…her baptism. _What happened_ , he wondered?An ambush!They had been attacked.He was freeing Minta when someone hit him over the head. _Minta_!“MINTA!” he shouted, causing a stabbing of pain to shoot through his head.Bernardo’s features came into sharper focus along with the rest of the world.He was still dizzy, but he had to find Minta.“Dios mio!Where did they take her?” he asked, trying to control the fear that threatened to swallow him up.He knew exactly what the mob had wanted and what they would most likely do.**

**Bernardo began signing, sitting close to Diego to make sure he could see his movements.He signed a cow being killed and then skinned.Then he indicated a building on the outskirts of the de la Vega lands.**

**Diego shook his head for a moment, but stopped quickly, letting the dizziness pass before he spoke.“Bernardo, slow down.I can’t understand you.Do you know where Minta is?”**

**Bernardo nodded and went through the motions again, more slowly this time.**

**“A steer?Killing a steer?Taking the hide off and tanning it,” Diego deduced.Bernardo nodded vigorously.Diego noted that the mute had been struck over the head just as he had, there was a small trickle of blood along the side of his head.“The tannery?”**

**Bernardo shook his head and pointed in the direction of the tanning shed.**

**Diego stared at him for a moment and the mute began to go through the motions once again.“The tanning shed!” he shouted, indicating the building where some of the initial slaughter and skinning of steers was accomplished.Bernardo nodded making a motion for him to hurry.“Yes, I need to hurry.Unhitch the carriage horses.I will take one and you go and find Father with the other.”The slight dizziness he felt as he stood up quickly disappeared.He helped Bernardo unbuckle the harness straps and they let them fall to the ground.Grabbing the horse’s long reins and mane in his hands, he swung up.**

**Bernardo was motioning again, making the sign of the Z.**

**“Zorro?No, there is no time.I will do this,” Diego said grimly as he turned the horse’s head toward the tanning shed.“Pray that I am not too late, Bernardo,” he added as he kicked the horse into a gallop.**  
  
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[**Chapter Thirty-three**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories33.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	34. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Thirty-Three**

**Diego’s heels kept jabbing the horse’s sides, trying to get as much speed from the animal as he could.By the time he rode up the hill just west of the tanning shed, the animal’s sides were heaving from the efforts of this fast, unremitting run, something to which the carriage horse was unused.Sweat from the gelding’s back seeped through Diego’s calzoneros and foam dripped from the horse’s muzzle.While mindful of the carriage horse’s condition, Diego was more mindful of his wife’s.His anxiety was an ache, no, a pain, that threatened to engulf him.**

**_How could I have been so stupid to have not seen that this was so much worse than I had thought?_ he berated himself.Estupido! _I brought her here and I cannot even keep her safe!_ “Madre de Dios,” he murmured.“Please keep her safe.Please let her be all right.” Recrimination was a cudgel with which he continued to beat himself as he traveled the dark road of his despair.**

**He stopped the horse long enough to peer into the moonlit valley just before him.He would have to be careful.There were too many to just bull his way in and rescue Minta.The slight breezes were capricious and sound came and went, but one sound chilled the very marrow of his bones. It was a woman’s screams, full of agony.Dios mio!Gone was any consideration to the condition of the horse. Gone was any thought of careful planning and stealthy approach.He kicked the horse into a fast gallop, praying that he would get there soon enough.**

**Two forms appeared almost spectrally in front of him, causing the horse to shy and almost unseat Diego.So intent had he been on the adobe building, that he had not been aware of the figures lending their shadows to that of the trees and brush. He recognized them as servants from neighboring haciendas.Even though he was sure of the answer, he asked his question anyway, wanting confirmation of his fears.“Where is she?” he asked, leaning down to make sure they knew to whom they were talking.**

**One pointed over his shoulder to the building behind him.Again kicking the horse into a gallop, Diego brushed by the man and woman.As he approached the tanning shed, he heard a girl screaming angrily inside and recognized Maria Louisa’s voice.While Diego was not surprised that the eighteen-year-old was the instigator of all of this, or at least the catalyst, he felt an agonizing guilt that he had underestimated the girl’s hatred and jealously as well as her power to incite others to the same heights of passionate fervor that she enjoyed.**

**Moonlight could not penetrate inside the shed, and in the dimness Diego pictured a hell of man’s making.Grabbing an arm-sized stick that had been dropped outside the tannery, he burst into the candle-lit interior.The slight breeze coming through the one open side of the building made the candle flames jerk around in a grotesque St. Vida’s-like dance.Shadows gleamed on faces lit by malicious fervor.Horror further enveloped him as Diego saw Minta sagging against the center post of the building.The only thing holding her up was the rope with which she was tied.The back of her blouse was tattered and he saw the shining reflection of blood.Rage filled Diego’s heart and mind, his free hand balling into a clenched fist so tight it brought pain.Anguish filled the tiny places left from the rage and he gave a great cry before raising his stick against those who had hurt and possibly killed his wife.Remotely, he counted at least twenty people and a tiny voice of reason spoke to him from deep within his brain.‘ _Focus on your purpose.’_ What was his purpose?Diego wanted to punish, to hurt these animals, but no, his real purpose was to rescue Minta.‘ _Focus on accomplishing that purpose with the least amount of energy and emotion,’_ he heard a familiar voice echoing in his mind.The latter, Diego realized, would be extremely difficult.He kept looking over at Minta, seeing her still form sagging against the ropes.‘ _Act clearly and without emotion.’_ It was as though Wis was next to him, whispering in his ear.It was what he had more or less done during his almost two years as Zorro.**

**Diego took a deep breath, forcing himself to look away from his severely injured wife.During his few seconds of distraction, several of the men had come close to him, brandishing sticks like the one he held.There were others behind with whips and riding crops.**

**Maria Louisa was staring at him, her anger-filled eyes changing to fear.“Don Diego, I am only doing this to save you from the demon witch,” she cried.“Please do not fight.Please do not force us to hurt you.”**

**Diego ignored her for the moment and concentrated on the men who were rushing him.The first man swung, but it was not a forceful blow and Diego stopped it with his stick, grabbing the attacker’s wrist with his left hand.He shifted his weight to his left foot and aimed a short chopping kick to a point just below his ribs.His assailant’s breath escaped in a forceful whoosh.Still holding onto the man, Diego swung him into the second assailant, who had been trying to sneak up on him.Both collapsed to the hard earth, the one gasping for air and the other unconscious.**

**A third man, one whom Diego recognized as a _vaquero_ from the Torres ranch, rushed him with a knife. _They are all like bulls_ , Diego thought, _charging without any planning_.Again he shifted his weight to his left foot as Wis had taught him, and aimed a kick high enough to catch his attacker under the chin.This one also fell to the ground, gasping and choking.Diego almost caught the falling knife, but scooped it up from the ground, throwing the now unneeded stick away and brandishing his new weapon at the rest of the men facing him.**

**“Leave, Don Diego, let us finish purging Lucifer from this one.You are bewitched and you do not know what you are doing,” a voice called out from somewhere in the dimly lit room.No one else tried to rush him for the moment.**

**His eyes coldly regarding Minta’s torturers, he said, “If by bewitched you mean that I love and want to marry a woman without guile or hatred, then I am bewitched.”Looking at Maria Louisa, he asked loud enough for the rest to hear him, “Did she curse you as you beat her?Or was she confused, frightened and wondering why you did this to her?”He glanced over his shoulder and was alarmed to see that Minta had still not moved. _Santa Mari_ a, he thought. _Please let her be alive!_ His chest tightened, his heart seemed to enlarge enough to burst through his ribs. His mind recalled her smile the first time he awoke on Rantir, her gentle touch and her musical laugh, even as he calculated his chances against these tormentors who were left.**

**“It is you who need to leave. Go to your homes.Go!” he ordered.“And pray that this woman does not die.” _If she has not already,_ he thought, anguish taking ascendancy over most of the anger.A few slunk out of the building; the rest stood staring.**

**“What are you doing?” Maria Louisa screamed.“She is a witch!”**

**Diego again ignored her, and taking a chance, moved close to Minta, all the while keeping an eye on those still remaining in the tanning shed.Feeling her neck, he found a heartbeat, although it seemed faint.“ _Dios_!” he murmured, as he glanced at her bloodied back. **

**He turned back to the remaining attackers just in time to catch Maria Louisa’s arm as she was swinging a knife in his direction.The girl had in her other hand a whip, one that looked wet, and one that Diego suspected had been used on Minta’s back.Maria Louisa screamed, spittle running from the corner of her mouth. “I will not let her have you!”Her face was a grimacing mask of loathing and contempt as he kept his steel hard grip on her wrist.“What about your precious witch now, Don Diego?” she screamed, struggling against him like a wild unbroken colt against a confining rope.**

**His anger was like a fire threatening to blaze through the paper-thin hold that he had been keeping on his emotions.He wanted to put his hands around Maria Louisa’s neck, wanted to take the bloodied whip and beat her with it until her blood flowed unchecked. His hand tightened on her wrist until she screamed in pain. _No!_ he shouted mentally, still keeping a hold of her wrist, but releasing some of the pressure. _You cannot do this. You cannot become an animal,_ he rebuked himself.**

**Maria Louisa began to beat him with the whip. Diego stuck his knife into his _banda_ and jerked it out of her grasp.He threw it from him as though it was a red-hot fireplace poker, searing his hand as the sight of the blood coating it seared his soul.Despite her resistance, he easily disarmed her, and then he took tight rein on his emotions, breathing deeply to rid himself of the desire to return some of the hate that she had inflicted on Minta.He forced himself to calm down.“Get out of my sight!And never set foot on the de la Vega hacienda again!”While still holding her wrist tightly, his eyes blazing intently at the others in the room, he added, “All of you; get out of here!!”Slowly the rabble complied, whether to his words or to his position, Diego did not care, and he released Maria Louisa, who followed them, her eyes glittering in deepest hate.When the room was empty, Diego used his knife to cut the ropes, gently lowering Minta to the hard packed ground.Still holding her gently, he peeled off his chaqueta and laid it on the ground next to his wife, then carefully laid her down so that her injured back was protected from the dried residue of the slaughter of steers.**

**“Minta,” he whispered, brushing the sweat and blood-dampened hair from her face.One eye appeared to be swollen, her lips were cracked and bleeding and she was covered with cuts and lacerations.Examining her arms, it appeared that one was broken.Her legs and torso seemed to have fared better.The whipping, though, had taken the worst toll.As he had laid her down on his chaqueta, he had felt blood soaking his sleeve.**

**_Oh, Dios, what do I do now?How can I help her?Surely You did not bring her here to die this way.It is too cruel!_ His thoughts flew like frightened birds as he listened to her soft, almost inaudible breathing. _The mission!_ His father would be coming from there.They could get Minta to the mission quicker than to the hacienda.With that decided, Diego ran to the opening and looked out.The valley appeared empty.Somehow, he had been hoping that Bernardo would have found his father by now and he would be hearing the sound of a carriage or horses, but to his despair the only thing that he heard were the natural sounds of the night.**

**Carefully, Diego picked Minta up, letting her head rest against his chest.She moaned and slowly opened one eye.It was as he had thought; one her eyes was indeed swollen shut.Her sigh was one of relief.“Oh, Diego,” she whispered.“I prayed you would be all right and come for me.”She laid her cheek against his ruffled shirt.“I knew if you could, you would.”**

**“Minta, querida, I am going to get you to the mission where you can be cared for.You will be all right, I promise.”**

**“Yes,” she sighed and slipped into unconsciousness again.As he carried her out the door, he gazed at the carriage horse.It would be impossible, with her injuries, to get her on the horse.He would have to walk and hope that he met with his father on the road, or came across a camp of vaqueros.Suddenly a dark figure on horseback approached from the shadow of the building.Diego stood, watching, anxious, wondering what this one was going to do.Peering at the man’s face, he recognized him as another of Nacho Torres’ vaqueros.**

**“Ramon.What do you want?” he demanded, wary.**

**“Patrón, I want to help.”**

**“In what way, Ramon?It seems that you and your companions have helped a great deal already,” he retorted.**

**“It appears that you are heading for the mission. Let me ride to Padre Felipe and get help.A cart or carriage to take your fiancé there, Don Diego,” Ramon said.**

**“Yes, that would be good, Ramon,” Diego conceded, hearing genuine concern in the man’s voice.**

**With one easy motion, Ramon swung his horse around, but as though forgetting something he turned back.“I am sorry, señor,” he said softly.And then he was gone into the shadows of the partially moonlit night; only the hoof beats betraying his presence.**

**Diego gazed up at the sky, looking at the brightest constellations that the moon allowed him to see.There were also clouds scudding across the sky, sometimes obscuring what he was looking for.Then he peered toward the slope in front of him.Holding Minta close to his body, he resolutely began walking in the direction of the mission, all the while hoping that Ramon would keep his word and that rescue would come soon.After crossing several valleys and hills, the last one rock strewn and filled with the shadows of brush and boulders, his arms felt leaden and his feet felt like wood.The landscape in front of him darkened and Diego looked up only to see clouds totally covering the moon.With a sigh, he looked ahead and found the trail almost completely covered in shadow.Cursing softly under his breath, he slowed down.His greatest fear was that he would stumble and drop his precious load.**

**And so Diego continued, carefully watching the placement of his feet, praying for rescue, praying for his wife to stay alive.He felt isolated drops of rain and with them a rise in the despair that he had kept tightly reined in.He continued, one foot in front of the other, conscious only of gaining his destination.His head began to throb again, keeping time with the beating of his heart.As the soft splattering of rain began to fall against his face, he heard the clatter of a wagon and the pounding hooves of several horses.**

**Diego continued slogging up the slope, hoping and praying the noise he was hearing was the rescue he had been hoping for.Then he saw several horsemen and a carriage crest the hill.“Here!” he cried.He called again when it appeared that they had not heard him.The lead horseman stopped, noticed him and rode toward him, dismounting even as he was pulling the horse to a stop.It was his father.**

**“Dios mio!” he cried, carefully taking the girl from Diego’s leaden arms and carrying her to the carriage.**

**Father Felipe moaned slightly in his distress as he quickly examined the woman’s injuries in the dimness of the rainy night.“We must get her to the mission quickly!” he declared.Looking toward Diego, he added, “You get in with her, mijo _._ You look as though you need attention as well.”**

**Diego looked at the priest, puzzled.“No, Padre, I am fine.It is Minta.”But he nevertheless was grateful to take the seat across from where his wife lay, a blanket carefully wrapped around her, her head resting on another folded blanket.Reaching across, he gently ran his finger down her bruised cheek.Another rider approached the carriage and Diego recognized Bernardo in the dimness.The mozo signed, but Diego was unable to make out what was being said.He shook his head and returned his attention back to Minta.**

**“My son, I will try to guide the carriage on the smoothest parts of the trail, but still it will be rough.You must watch your fiancé and make sure that she does not get jostled too much,” Father Felipe told him.**

**“Sí, Padre, I will do that,” Diego answered as the carriage jerked gently and began its journey to Minta’s succor.The rain began to fall harder, finding its way into the carriage and Diego huddled over Minta trying to keep it off her body.**

**Soon they were at the mission where Minta was taken to a brightly lit infirmary.Father Felipe and a fellow priest carefully checked her over, washing her wounds and replacing the blood soaked and dirty clothes with a soft linen robe.During the entirety of the ministrations, Minta barely moved, only softly moaning a time or two.Diego watched in anguish, occasionally helping when the priests asked.**

**“We have set her broken arm and dressed her wounds, Diego,” Father Felipe said.“She lost some blood during the whipping.I do not think it was a dangerous amount, but I cannot tell right now.I think she also has some cracked or broken ribs.She is in the hands of the santos and God right now.Fever is what we have to fear the most.”He paused and scrutinized the younger man.“Now to take care of you,” Father Felipe said.**

**“Me?” Diego asked, bewildered at this second reference to his needs.**

**“My son, your appearance would most certainly frighten even the most brave among us,” the priest said, touching the side of Diego’s face, just above the hairline.Reaching up, the young man felt something entirely coating one side of his face.Looking at his fingers he saw that it was rain-diluted blood.Diego took a clean towel and wet it in the basin of water that stood in a washstand near him.Father Felipe took it from him.“Let me, my son,” he said gently.**

**Diego acquiesced, feeling a kind of torpor settle over him.By the time the priest had finished, Diego was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.He wanted to keep vigil beside his wife, but was unable to stay awake.Even with the pounding in his head, he felt so very sleepy.So tired.**

**“My son, Bernardo will watch over her for you.You lay down in the next room and sleep for awhile.”**

**“No, I will sleep over there,” he said pointing to a bed nearby.“But you must promise that you will wake me up if there is any change.Anything,” he said as he stumbled toward the cot.As he felt himself drift off into sleep, his thoughts were on the woman whose love for him had caused her so much hurt.Far off thunder seemed to match the mood that had descended upon him.**  
  
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[**Chapter Thirty-four**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memories34.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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[**Main Page**](http://www.bookscape.net/index.htm)


	35. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Chapter Thirty-four**

**The rain pounded violently on the tile roof while the wind howled along the balcony.Blinding flashes of lightning and booming thunder testified to the power of nature.The entire house rattled.Diego wondered why the fire in the fireplace was out, without even embers to show there had ever been anything in it.He was puzzled by the lack of candles or lanterns.His room seemed cloistered and small, and he paced with the nervous energy of a caged bear, his steps guided by memory and the flashes of lightning.**

**Finally, he could stand it no longer and he opened the heavy, ornately decorated door that led to the balcony.Puzzled, Diego saw before him a long hallway, like that in a monastery.Candles in sconces were placed in the walls at intervals only close enough to prevent him from stumbling on the somewhat uneven packed earth floor of the corridor.**

**Lightning still flickered behind him and thunder shook the walls, the booming noise echoing dully in his brain.For a moment Diego paused, trying to make sense of his strange surroundings.Then he continued, coming to a door that was partially opened.Reddish-gold light filtered out through the doorway.Curious, he pushed it open, his eyes beholding the light of over a dozen red candles with flickering red flames.Diego stared at them in wonder, then he continued to the long box that the candles surrounded.He realized the box was a coffin and dread shot through him.His heart began pounding until it became a pain that filled his chest. _Who is it?_ he asked himself and realized he didn’t want to know, but his feet kept moving toward the dark brown box.He tried to stop, his dread increasing until it almost threatened to close off his windpipe, but it was as though he had no control over his body.**

**Suddenly Diego was standing over the coffin, looking down.His eyes widened at the sight that greeted them.In the coffin lay a woman in sweet repose, her dark skin smooth and soft, her light hair like a halo around her face.The candles flared up, further illuminating the face of the dead before him.**

**“MINTA!” he screamed, jerking upright in the small bed.The leather strip lattice mattress protested under his weight.There was only one candle for illumination and it was across the room.Diego felt the sweat drip down his face as he looked wildly around him.**

**“Diego, my son, it is all right.You are having a nightmare,” his father said, his hand on Diego’s arm providing a link to reality.There was no coffin, no red-flamed candles; only the darkness and a slight muttering of thunder in the distance.**

**He stared at his father. _A dream.It was just a dream_ , he thought in relief. _But how is she?How is she really?Will she die??_ Sensing the dread building, Diego got up, feeling his now wrinkled clothing sticking to his body.Slipping out of his father’s grasp, he crossed the room.Diego saw that his wife was still in the same position that she had been when he had laid down.She was ominously still, her face swollen, her hair hanging limp.Father Felipe was wiping her forehead with a damp cloth.**

**Silently, Diego approached Minta’s bedside and gently took the cloth.“Diego, mi hijo, you should sleep some more,” Father Felipe told him softly. “We can take care of Minta for you while you rest."**

**“I should be by my wife’s side,” Diego responded, his voice low, but resolute.He dipped the cloth into the basin, wrung it out and tenderly wiped her battered face.“I should always be next to my beloved.”**

**Again his father laid a hand on his arm.Diego looked up.“Diego, my son….”The eyes spoke volumes of the love that the older man felt for his son and of the understanding that he had for Diego’s anguish.As the young man continued to care for his wife, he realized just how hard this must be on his father.Father had also gone through the suffering of someone he loved.Except Mother had died. _Mother of God, do not let that happen now,_ his fearful mind cried.**

**Diego nodded, unable to speak, and turned back to Minta.Neither his father nor Father Felipe said anything else, and Diego realized several minutes later that he was alone.Taking Minta’s hand in his, he cradled it next to his cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin.“Oh, querida, I am so sorry, so very sorry.”Closing his eyes, he prayed.He prayed to his patron saint, to the Holy Virgin, to her Son and to God, Himself.At the sound of a soft sigh, his eyes jerked open.**

**“Oh, Diego, you are here,” she murmured, a slight smile crossing her battered lips.“I dreamed that you were with me.I dream of you; always…”**

**“And I, you,” he answered, kissing the back of her hand, then leaning over and kissing her gently on her battered lips.“You will soon be well, mi amor and then Padre Felipe will marry us.And I will never leave your side.”**

**Minta looked over his shoulder and then said, “Yes.”She paused and sighed softly.“I love you and will always love you, Diego.I felt something about you from the first moment that I saw you.I want you to be happy, my love.”**

**To Diego it seemed as though Minta was saying goodbye to him and his heart constricted.“I will be happy, Minta, when you are well.Just get well, mi amor.”**

**“I love you,” she whispered and closed her eyes.Soon her breathing slowed to that of sleep.Diego sat with her for hours, occasionally giving her sips of juice when she was awake enough to swallow, wiping her face with the cool, damp cloth, always holding her hand and talking to her.She sometimes moaned and murmured as she lay on the bed, but she never fully awakened.For two days, Diego sat his vigil, sometimes with Father Felipe, sometimes with Bernardo or his father nearby.They brought him food, but he only ate a little.As each hour passed, Diego felt more and more despondent; hope trickling away like the shiny sand in an hourglass.**

**“My son, Minta’s injuries do not seem life threatening, but her recovery from this act of evil is going to take a long time,” Father Felipe told Diego on the second day.“Let me care for her for a while so you can sleep.”**

**Diego simply shook his head and remained by Minta’s side.He felt the reassuring touch of the priest’s hand squeezing his shoulder and then heard the slight sound of Father Felipe’s sandals slapping against the stone floor of the room as he left.He continued his vigil through the day and into the night.As the early morning sun filtered through the tiny window, Diego was dismayed to find that he had dozed off.He touched his hand to her forehead.Madre de Dios!A fever! he thought.Taking her hand in his, he brought it to his cheek. “Mi amor,” he moaned.**

**Dr. Avila visited as he had several days earlier, but he could do very little, only giving them medicines to help with the fever.Father Felipe mixed the medicines, and Diego gave them to her, but as the fourth day progressed, Minta’s fever rose higher.Prayer was mixed with soft whisperings to his beloved, admonitions to get well in both conversations.“Minta, do not leave me, please do not leave me,” he murmured in Rantiri, close to her ear.Her only response was a soft sighing moan.He only left her to go to the small side chapel that was mainly used by the neophytes, and light candles in her behalf.“Madre de Dios, heal her, por favor.Please hear me.”**

**Back in the room, he rubbed his finger gently down her fevered cheek.“I would do anything for you, Minta,” he said to her.Again praying, he murmured, “Dios mio _,_ you know that I would give anything for her to get well.Anything.” **

**During the fourth night, exhaustion caught up with him and Diego caught himself dozing in the chair next to Minta’s bed.Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked into the Father Felipe’s apprehensive face.**

**“One of Minta’s people is here,” he stated, his voice registering concern alongside bewilderment.“I did not ask how, but the man simply showed up at the mission gate.”**

**“What?” Diego asked, his mind still fogged with exhaustion.From behind Father Felipe, a Rantiri stepped into the room.He looked familiar, and Diego frowned, trying to remember.Then it came to him.It was the one who stuck the needle in his arm before his memories were taken from him.“Jerintas?” he asked tentatively, remembering the name that Minta had given him.**

**The Rantiri nodded, his eyes quickly leaving Diego’s and traveling down to the young woman on the bed.He knelt by Minta’s bedside, lightly touching her forehead, checking her injuries.“What happened?”**

**“Why are you here?” Diego asked, temporarily avoiding the Rantiri leader’s question.Fear warred with anger as he considered Jerintas’ presence.He felt he already knew the answer to his question.**

**“I came to get Minta,” the director answered, looking up at Diego accusingly.“She is not of your world.”Standing by the door, Father Felipe watched both men, confusion registering on his face, since the conversation was in Rantiri.**

**“She chose it, all the same,” Diego answered tersely.**

**“Yes, and look what it got her,” Jerintas answered bluntly, looking back at the battered woman.“What happened?” he repeated, his features softening as he saw the haggard and despairing look on Diego’s face.**

**Briefly, Diego told him.Jerintas took an object from his pocket and held it close to her body.Father Felipe started forward, but Diego held him back.He recognized the object, remembering that Dr. Klictus had used it on the ship. _When?An eternity ago?_ he asked himself, remembering the peaceful tranquility of that long trip. **

**“She has serious injuries that need to be taken care of.There is the infection that could kill her if she is not taken care of soon.Thankfully, the beating she took did not cause brain damage,” Jerintas told him bluntly.Diego translated for the priest who was still standing nearby. He saw his father standing in the doorway, a deep scowl on his face, his eyes burning with indignation as he stared at Jerintas’ back. “She cannot stay here,” the alien director added, gazing directly into Diego’s eyes.“She needs advanced medical attention.”**

**“Don’t you think I know that, Jerintas?But she chose to come here…” Diego let his voice trail off, knowing that whatever had been decided before, it had been negated by her injuries and by the director’s presence.Despair filled his mind and heart and he felt as though he was mired in it.**

**“Designated One…”**

**“Do not call me Designated One!” Diego interrupted, his voice raised in anger.“I am not your designated one!I am simply someone you chose to kidnap, to steal away from my home, my family, and my friends.You chose to try to take away my soul as well when you stuck that needle in my arm and took my memories.The only thing I had was Minta and now you want to take her away, too?Will you leave me with nothing, Jerintas?”Diego felt his breath harshly in his throat.He felt the beating of his heart seemingly battering his ribcage.“Will you take my heart as well as my soul?”**

**The Rantiri leader looked back at the woman on the little bed, sighing heavily.“Look at her.Do you really think that she will live without proper medical attention?”He raised his head and met Diego’s eyes.“Do you want her to suffer?”**

**“NO!” Diego said harshly.“Use your medicines and make her well.After that I can take her home to the hacienda with me.”**

**“And can you guarantee that this will not happen again?” Jerintas asked.“Can you protect her?Can you keep her safe?”The words came from the lips of the Rantiri gently enough but they were like musket balls penetrating to the innermost parts of Diego’s soul.**

**Diego turned and dropped to his knees, moaning.He laid his forehead gently on Minta’s good arm, feeling the warmth of her body.He remembered the hate-filled look that Maria Louisa had given him as she had slunk from the shed.Could he guarantee Minta’s safety?Did he want something like this to happen again?**

**“Get out of here!” his father commanded harshly.“How dare you come here again!Have you not done enough?”**

**_If Jerintas takes her, she will be safe._ Diego picked up Minta’s hand and held it close to his cheek.He felt everything inside swirling in a whirlpool of despair and hopelessness.It was as though he were drowning.Whichever way he decided, he would lose her, but if he sent her back to her home, she would at least live. _And if I went with her?Yes, that is what I will do,_ Diego thought.**

**He carefully laid her hand on her chest and slowly got up.His knees felt weak, but resolve grew within his mind.“No, Father.Jerintas is right.Minta is not safe here.She will always be suspect and someday someone may very well succeed in killing her.She must go home.”Looking at Jerintas, he told him in Rantiri, “I will carry her to your ship and then we will leave together.I will not be parted from my beloved.”**

**“Designated One, that is not possible.You would die back on Rantir.I will not take you this time.I cannot.”Jerintas paused and gazed thoughtfully at the suffering young man.How could he convey what he knew to this individual who had become so deeply caught up in the turmoil of his own people.Even if there were no Late Comer, Diego de la Vega would sicken and die.His heart was tied to this land.From Minta’s communiqués that was all he talked about as his memories returned to him . . . the people, the land, his duties.Softly, he said, “Designated One, what was it that you were doing when we captured you?”**

**Diego was taken aback, not expecting a question.“Captured?I had rescued a woman from kidnapers,” he said.**

**“Why did you put your life at risk like that.I remember when we took you, there were about four men chasing you.They had percussion weapons.Any one of them could have killed you,” Jerintas pointed out.Until he had read Minta’s letters from the ship, he had always puzzled about that.She had explained a bit about the Designated One’s alter ego.**

**“Why?” Diego repeated.“Because otherwise she would have died.They would have killed her after receiving the ransom.”**

**Jerintas’ voice became even softer.“What would you do on Rantir, besides die?”He paused again and took a deep breath.“You would sicken and die, and then how would Minta feel?She would blame herself.She would be filled with guilt.She would never be happy.At least this way, you will be alive to help the people you love so much.And Minta will be alive and remember you as a vibrant and meaningful part of her life.”**

**Diego turned away; his eyes squeezed shut.Jerintas was right.Damn him, he was totally right.He wanted to beat his fists on the floor in frustration, scream to the heavens, cry. _No, I will not cry.I cannot._ When he opened his eyes again, he saw Minta, bruised and battered, almost dead.No, he didn’t want to remember her as someone who died.He wanted to believe that she was full of life, happy and contented.**

**His father walked across the room to face him and looked questioningly into his eyes.He might have guessed what was being said, but he could not know the extent of the conversation.“He is right father,” Diego repeated in a whisper, composing himself.“Minta must go with Jerintas.”**

**Turning back to the director, Diego said, “Yes, you have to take her home with you, but you must promise me one thing.”**

**“I will do whatever I can,” Jerintas answered, his voice still soft, seeing the enormity of the decision that Diego had made.**

**“Take care of her.Do what you can to make her happy as she has made me happy these last months.”**

**Jerintas nodded, his eyes sorrowful.Diego realized that the Rantiri would do his best to keep the promise that he had made to him.He would have to be content with that.**

**Gently, carefully, he reached under Minta’s unconscious body and picked her up, cradling her close to him, feeling her warmth, feeling her breath on his chest.She moaned lightly, but did not wake up. _That, too, is good,_ Diego thought.**

**“The shuttle is not far.You will not have a long walk,” Jerintas said softly as he led the way out of the mission.Father Felipe and his own father followed quietly behind.Although the conversation had been in the Rantiri language, they seemed to understand what was happening now.**

**“Diego…” his father began.**

**“No, Father, this is the right thing to do.”Diego kept telling himself this as he walked behind Jerintas.He felt as though his feet were betrayers, taking him away from that which was most precious to him.As Jerintas walked out of the back of the mission toward the hills that sat serenely before him, he hardened his resolve, knowing that this was the only thing that could be done.**

**Diego hoped that Minta would have a happy life; that she would find someone else with whom she could be happy, possibly have children with.In the darkness of the night, he gazed down at the halo of hair that lay helter skelter across her face and his arm.He could barely make out her features, but he knew them, they were memorized and ingrained into his mind.He would never forget this wonderful, beautiful person who had come into his life, unusual though that meeting had been.**

**After cresting a hill and walking down into the sloping valley beyond, Diego was able to make out Jerintas’ ship by the light of the moon just peeking over the eastern hills.It was small, but its smooth lines seemed cold and repellant.He didn’t feel the same fear that he had before with these kinds of ships, but there was still fear.This was not a gate to Hell, but Diego decided that Hell took various forms.**

**When the ship opened and the ramp descended, there were no lights shining from the inside, but the young man still heard his father’s and Father Felipe’s audible gasp behind him.He turned and faced them.“Wait here,” he said quietly.“I will be back shortly.”**

**His father simply nodded, while Father Felipe made the sign of the cross over Minta.“Vaya con Dios, my child,” the priest murmured.When he was done, Diego turned and followed Jerintas into the ship.The Rantiri led him to a cabin where he laid Minta down on a narrow bed.With slightly trembling fingers, he straightened her hair, moving it away from her features so he could drink in her face one last time.His finger traced the outline of her cheeks, nose and chin.He kissed her gently on the lips, picked up one hand and held it to his cheek.Kissing the back of her hand, he then tenderly kissed each of her five fingers and laid her hand back on her stomach.**

**“Designated One,” Jerintas said softly from behind him.**

**“Leave me alone with my wife for a while,” Diego said, ignoring the Rantiri’s name for him.**

**“We have a short window of opportunity.We must go soon, but I can allow a little time.It is your right,” Jerintas told him.**

**“Yes.”Hearing the sound of Jerintas leaving, closing the door behind him, he knelt next to her bed and brought his lips near her ear.“Minta, querida, amor, do not forget me, but do not feel sad that we are apart.Find one to take care of you, who will love you as much as I have loved you.As much as I will always love you.”**

**Avoiding the worst of her bruises and cuts, Diego kissed her several more times and then drew back.He felt as though he was being swallowed up in his sorrow, and he used his eyes to consume as much of her as he could, feeling that his memories would be the only thing that would save him from total despair.Too soon, he heard the sound of the cabin door opening.**

**“We must leave, Designated One,” Jerintas said quietly.“You must release her from the Union.”**

**“Union?” Diego asked, perplexed.Then he realized what Jerintas was saying.“Yes, she cannot be held to a union that cannot last.”**

**“It would make her too unhappy to be united to you and know that she will never see you again.”**

**Almost choking on the words, Diego whispered, “Minta, I release you from our union.You are free to find happiness on Rantir with another who will bring you joy.”Standing, Diego pushed his way past Jerintas and made his way to the airlock door.Hearing the Rantiri director behind him, Diego turned and faced him.Behind him he heard the sounds of the California night, but they gave him no comfort.“Remember what you promised me.And remember also that I am Diego de la Vega.I am not ‘Designated One.’Remember that.”**

**“I will remember, Diego de la Vega,” Jerintas said softly, but with as much conviction as he could give the grief-stricken human.“And remember what you have done for the Rantiri people.You have not only given them hope for the future, you have shown us what true courage and sacrifice is all about.You have saved a doomed race, Diego de la Vega, Designated One.”Diego gazed at him, his eyes filled with incomprehensible sorrow, then he turned and disappeared into the night.As the co-pilot was closing the airlock door, however, the Rantiri thought he heard an anguished cry like that of an injured animal.He returned to check on Minta Morlif-Brocnor, wondering about the anomaly he had found when he had run a diagnostic test on her.He thought about the name designation she had given herself and felt an odd chill run up and down his spine.As he used his diagnostic again, more carefully this time, he felt the chill again.His breath caught in his throat and almost choked him.**

**When they reached the mother ship, Minta was transferred to the medical facility.There she was given the antibiotics that would save her, and the medicines that would restore her strength.The procedures to deal with her broken bones and lacerated skin were performed.As the ship passed through the far reaches of Diego’s solar system, readying itself for a hyper jump, Minta finally regained consciousness.**

**Jerintas had not left her side during the past day cycle.Minta looked around for Diego and when she didn’t see him, gazed at the director, the significance of his presence working itself into her consciousness.“Where am I?” she asked in a whisper, her eyes wide in shock.**

**“On a star cruiser,” Jerintas answered, his voice low.**

**“Where is Diego?”**

**“Back on Earth.He released you from your Union, Minta.He let you come with me because you would die if you remained on Earth.He wanted you to find your own destiny in a place where you would be safe.”**

**Her screams of anguish echoed in the medical quarters, over and over.Jerintas knew it would haunt him the rest of his life.**  
  
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[**Epilogue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesepi.htm)  
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[**Memories Prologue**](http://www.bookscape.net/zorro/memoriesprologue.htm)  
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	36. Memories in the Dust

Memories in the Dust

_**Memories in the Dust**_  
  
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**Epilogue**

**Father Felipe walked in the small courtyard of the mission grounds, trying to find solace from the fountain that stood in one corner.The trickle of water was not peaceful to him right now; it seemed almost an indictment of the horrid past that could not be washed away.**

**Eight weeks after Minta’s people had taken her away, Diego was every bit as disconsolate as he had been at her initial departure.What was worse was that the young man’s sharp memory could not forget his own words, words the priest had used the very night of the beating to calm and console the young man.“ _Everything will be all right, Diego_ ,” he had said and he had believed it.It was such a strong assurance and it had come to him in such a powerful way, almost, he imagined, like the writing that had come to the Babylonian king on the wall of the temple.**

**Yet, Minta was gone, taken away by her people to be saved from death and placed somewhere among the stars.All that Diego had left were his dreams.Sighing, Father Felipe paced some more.He remembered the conversation earlier in the evening in this very courtyard.Diego had been staying at the mission; trying to make sense of the past, deal with his grief and guilt, trying to return to normal.**

**“Padre, I wish that I had gone with her.”**

**“But, mi hijo, you had told me that to live on her world would be a sentence of death for you,” he had replied.**

**“Better that than what I have here,” Diego had answered brusquely.The priest had nodded, trying to understand.“I would at least be with her as I died,” the young man added.**

**“But what would such a death do to her?”**

**Diego sighed.“That is what Jerintas said.I do not know.I only know that I feel ripped apart.I feel almost as empty as I did when I woke up on her world.”He paused.“No, I feel more empty,” he finally murmured.**

**“It will take time, my son.These terrible hurts will dim.”**

**“Does that mean that my memories of Minta will dim as well?I do not think I could stand that!” Diego responded, his voice shaking in his anguish.**

**“No, I do not think you will ever forget Minta, and you should not forget her.I am only saying that your pain will ease.”**

**“You also said that everything would be all right in the end,” Diego said as he got up and paced the confines of the courtyard.**

**“I do not understand this myself, Diego.It was a sure knowledge that came to me at the time,” the priest said.**

**“What does your sure knowledge tell you now, Padre?” Diego asked, stopping in front of the priest.**

**“It tells me nothing, my son,” he said.“I have no answers right now, except that you must trust God, praying that we will eventually understand what He had in mind.”**

**“I have nothing left to pray with right now,” Diego said.He touched a rose that was just beginning to wilt with age and looked at it. Then his fist closed around it and he jerked it from its stem.Opening his hand, Diego let it fall into the fountain.Father Felipe saw the blood red petals floating here and there, separating and flowing together like bloated drops of blood.Diego must have seen the same thing, because he cried out in his anguish, turned and rushed from the courtyard.**

**The young caballero had not shown up for dinner and his little room was unoccupied at vespers.The priest worried about Diego.He wondered if time would heal him or if all of the ordeals of the past eight months would finally cause this strong young man to buckle and lose his mind to madness.**

**As he paced the dark confines of the little courtyard, Father Felipe said a quick prayer for Diego, hoping that he would be strong enough to endure.**

**A slight glow off of his left shoulder caught his attention and the priest looked up.It was in the direction of the de la Vega rancho and it looked like fire.This was not the dry season, but it had not rained since the night of Minta’s beating over two months ago, and the days had been hot.A fire of any size was a cause for worry when the grasses were dry.Rushing into the sacristy, he called to one of the novitiates, “Manuel, gather a group of neophytes.There is a fire nearby.The de la Vega lands.”The younger man gathered up his robes to avoid tripping on them and rushed out of the room.Soon the bell rang twice and Indians gathered near the church in the large courtyard.**

**Quickly gathering two dozen Indians and under-priests, Father Felipe climbed into the lead wagon. Soon they were rumbling through the darkness toward the de la Vega rancho _._ The glow still seemed bright as though there was a large building burning.The priest whispered a prayer of protection for all who might be there.**

**The closer to the fire they traveled, though, the less likely it seemed that it would be the casa grande itself.Then it dawned on him, they were approaching the area of the tanning shed and suddenly Father Felipe realized what they would find.**

**Cresting the hill, he saw before him a great bonfire engulfing what was left of the adobe and wood shed.The tanning shed had become a conflagration that went beyond the wood and straw that had once been part of the outlying building.Father Felipe surmised that Diego had to have gathered flammable materials all afternoon and evening.**

**Don Alejandro and a vaquero, Benito were restraining the young man.The flames made flickering shadows and highlights across Diego’s face, accentuating the look of fury and despair.Quickly scrambling down from the wagon, Father Felipe approached the distraught young man.**

**“I have to finish,” Diego said.He repeated the sentence several times, never taking his gaze from the inferno.In his hands were several branches.**

**“It is finished, my son,” Alejandro said gently.**

**“No, it is not gone.It has to be gone…completely gone, like Minta,” he responded, his voice suddenly going flat.**

**“Diego, let us watch the building fall and then we can return to the mission and talk about it,” Father Felipe urged.“You have done enough to obliterate this symbol of hatred and evil.”The priest lightly touched the young man’s arm.**

**Diego reluctantly pulled his eyes from the fire and gazed at the priest.His eyes seemed to be focused far away for a few seconds before becoming aware of the older man.Nodding, he allowed his fingers to relax and the branches to fall to the ground.With an audible sigh of relief Father Felipe stepped to Diego’s side and turned to watch the fire.**

**Alejandro stayed by Diego’s side as well.A slight hand motion from the old don sent the vaqueros to the periphery of the fire to make sure that it didn’t spread.Padre Felipe nodded to the Indians to do the same.**

**Heat caused the adobe bricks to burst, sending clots of dried mud and puffs of dust skyward.The muted explosions made the priest jump slightly.Sparks rose into the sky, flashing brightly before winking out.It almost seemed a plea for justice to the Almighty from the innocent.He shivered.“May God have mercy on those who began this,” Father Felipe murmured.**

**“They may need it,” Diego said tersely.**

**Father Felipe looked up sharply at the younger man.“Surely you cannot be thinking of wholesale retribution, my son.”**

**Diego shook his head as though clearing something distasteful from his mind.“I cannot say that the thought has been totally foreign to me, Padre.”**

**“Do not become like those who did this horrible thing to you.”**

**“I am trying, Padre.I really am,” Diego said, his voice almost a whisper.**

**The last wall sank almost silently to the ground, dust billowing, darkening the already stygian blackness.**

**Later that night, after the young caballero had finally fallen asleep in his room, the priest went into the chapel and sat down in the first pew, facing the altar and the statue of Christ behind it.**

**“Oh, Lord, why did You tell me that things would be all right, and then let this happen?So much suffering for one who has done so much good,” Father Felipe murmured, his head bowed.He felt the hot tears falling down his sun-darkened cheeks.“Madre de Dios,it is not all right.Nothing is all right for this child of yours.”Sliding out of the pew, he found himself on his knees, falling forward until his forehead touched the hard floor.Still he prayed, silently as well as vocally, trying to find answers to all that had happened.As he paused, he heard the soft rustling of the birds that often roosted in the bell tower at night.The sounds were reassuring to him, making him think of the sound of angel’s wings.**

**Then he heard something, like a whisper.It was soft, but unmistakably plain and it sent shivers coursing through his body…. _“But it will be all right, mi hijo_. _In the end, it will be all right.”_**

**The End**  
  
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